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UNDEESTANDING
HUMAN NATURE

Understanding
Human Nature

3y ^Alfred JLdler

Translated by Walter Beran Wolfe

r9^ New York

2m: Qreenberg f Tublisher

<5 7-c2'?5^a

OOPTBIGHT, 1927

GREENBERG, PUBLISHER, INC.

First Printing, November, 1927
Second Printing, January, 1928
Third Printing, February, 1928
Fourth Printing, March, 1928
Fifth Printing, May, 1928

'MANUFACTUEKD IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMBEICA
By THE VAIL-BALLOU PEESS, INC., BINOHAMTON, N. Y.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE

This book is an attempt to acquaint the general public
with the fundamentals of Individual Psychology. At the
same time it is a demonstration of the practical applica-
tion of these principles to the conduct of one's everyday
relationships, not only to the world, and to one's fellow-
men, but also to the organization of one's personal life.
The book is based upon a year's lectures to an audience of
hundreds of men and women of all ages and professions,
at the People's Institute in Vienna. The purpose of the
book is to point out how the mistaken behavior of the in-
dividual affects the harmony of our social and communal
life; further, to teach the individual to recognize his own
mistakes, and finaUy, to show him how he may effect a
harmonious adjustment to the communal life. Mistakes in
business or in science are costly and deplorable, but mis-
takes in the conduct of life are usually dangerous to life
itself. To the task of illuminating man's progress toward
a better understanding of human nature, this book is
dedicated.

Alfred Adlee

I

TEANSLATOR'S PREFACE

It has long been one of the contentions of Alfred Adler
that scientific knowledge must never remain the private
property to those who, by virtue of their special training,
have been enabled to win new truths from Nature: the
value of all knowledge is relative to its usefulness to
humanity. The origins of Individual Psychology lie in
chapters on organ and constitutional pathology which are
among the most abstruse in all medicine. Very few are
qualified to read and understand Adler 's first epoch-
making **StUDIE tJBER DIE MlNDERV^ERTIGKEIT VON OR-

GANEN.*' Yet in the fifteen years which have followed the
publication of this work, Alfred Adler and his fellow-
students have experimented ceaselessly along the lines sug-
gested in this book, so that today Individual Psychology
has become a separate science, a psychotherapeutic method,
a system of characterology, at one and the same time a
** Weltanschauung*' and an approach to the understanding
of human conduct. Despite the difiiculty of the source
material, the technique of understanding human conduct
which is the fruit of these fifteen years of constant experi-
ment and study, lies within the scope of any intelligent
adult.

Individual Psychology followed its recognition of the
origins of the neurosis and delinquency in the situations
of childhood, by establishing free child-guidance clinics in
the schools and settlements of Vienna. The courageous sac-
rifice of Adler 's pupils, who worked without pay, often

viii TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE

under the most unsatisfactory physical conditions, was
amply repaid by the splendid psychotherapeutic results.
Realizing further that every adult, armed with the method
and insight of Individual Psychology, might make his life
more meaningful, understand the conduct of his fellows
better, and become a more complete human being, Adler
responded to numerous requests, and held weekly lectures
in the large auditorium of the People 's Institute of Vienna,
on the understanding of human nature and on the tech-
nique of living. These lectures were held before audiences
of several hundred people of both sexes, and of all ages.
Following each lecture an open forum was held, and Dr.
Adler answered the written questions showered upon him
in his genial, encouraging way.

Understanding Human Nature represents a year of
these lectures at the People's Institute. A manifest defect
in the book is that it is a spoken book and not a written
book. Minus the gestures, minus the sparkle of Dr. Adler 's
wit, minus his extempore blackboard diagrams. Under-
standing Human Nature tends to become a literary
shadow of a very vibrant reality. Yet the material covers
the broad expanses of human conduct so well, and illum-
inates in the understanding of our fellows so many points
which have become muddied in the current logomachia of
the various psychotherapeutic schools, that the translation
of this work becomes important to all students of human
conduct. Physicians, psychiatrists, and psychologists will
realize that Understanding Human Nature is not an
exhaustive treatise on psycho-pathology, but an attempt to
treat the many-faceted problems of the neuroses in a man-
ner intelligible to the educated adult. Students of the spe-
cial problems, touched but cursorily in these pages, will
use it not as a final text, but as a manual of suggestions
and stimulations. The same may be said of educators and

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE ix

sociologists, for whom the fi;ndings of Individual Psy-
chology are of great moment. It is to the average intelli-
gent adult that Understanding Human Nature will have
the greatest appeal. The precept of Socrates, *'Know thy-
self!" was, unfortunately, not followed by directions for
acquiring that knowledge. Centuries after the death of the
Athenian, a profound thinker, a great physician, a greater
knower of the human soul, has gathered the fruits of his
experience, and published a manual and a guide for this
understanding of our fellows and ourselves.

The otherwise arduous toil of adequately translating
these lectures from the involved and ponderous thought-
ways of German, has been materially .lightened by a fortu-
nate constellation of circumstances. The preparation of the
manuscript and the correction of the proofs have been
largely the painstaking and friendly labor of Professor
Elizabeth-Yera Loeb of Hunter College. Long personal
study with Dr. Adler, attendance at these very lectures,
participation in the actual work of the child-guidance
clinics in Vienna, together with the application of the
theory and practice of Individual Psychology in the clinics
of New York, have enabled the translator to translate not
only the words, but the feeling and spirit of Individual
Psychology, into the more dynamic idiom of America. A
splendid fellowship with the author has more than compen-
sated the translator for his pains.

W. B]6ran Wolfe, m.d.
New York City
November 1927

CONTENTS

PAOB

PREFACE V

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE vii

INTRODUCTION 3

BOOK I; HUMAN BEHAVIOR

OHAPTBE

L THE SOUL 17

The Concept and Premise of the Psychic Life . . 17

The Function of the Psychic Organ .... 18

Teleology in the Psychic Life 19

IL SOCIAL ASPECTS OF THE PSYCHIC LIFE . 26

The Absolute Truth 26

The Need for Communal Life 27

Security and Adaptation 29

The Social Feeling 31

IIL CHILD AND SOCIETY 33

The Situation of the Infant 33

The Influence of Difficulties 36

Man as a Social Being 42

IV. THE WORLD WE LIVE IN 44

The Structure of Our Cosmos 44

Elements in the Development of the Cosmic Picture 47

Perception 47

Memory 48

Imagination 49

Fantasy 57

Dreams: General Considerations 59

Empathy and Identification 60

Hypnosis and Suggestion 62

xi

xii CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

V. THE FEELING OF INFERIORITY AND THE

STRIVING FOR RECOGNITION .... 69

The Situation in Early Childhood 69

The Striving for Superiority 72

The Graph of Life and the Cosmic Picture . . 80

VI. THE PREPARATION FOR LIFE 91

Play 91

Attention and Distraction 93

Criminal Negligence and Forgetfulness ... 96

The Unconscious 97

Dreams 107

Talent 117

VIL SEX 120

Bisexuality and the Division of Labor .... 120
The Dominance of the Male in the Culture of Today 122

The Alleged Inferiority of Women 129

Desertion from Womanhood 133

Tension Between the Sexes 145

Attempts at Reform 147

VIII. THE FAMILY CONSTELLATION 149

BOOK II: THE SCIENCE OF CHARACTER

I. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 161

The Nature and Origin of Character .... 161
The Significance of the Social Feeling for the De-
velopment of Character 166

The Direction of Character Development . . . 171

The Old School of Psychology 179

Temperament and Endocrine Secretion .... 180

Recapitulation 188

II. AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS ... 191

Vanity and Ambition 191

Jealousy 221

Envy 223

CONTENTS xiii

HAPTEB PAGl

Avarice 227

Hate 228

III. NON-AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS . . 233

Seclusiveness 233

Anxiety 235

Faint-Heartedness 239

Untamed Instincts as the Expression of Lessened

Adaptation 248

IV. OTHER EXPRESSIONS OF CHARACTER . . 252

Cheerfulness 252

Thought Processes and Ways of Expression . . 253

Schoolboy Immaturity 254

Pedants and Men of Principle 255

Submissiveness 256

Imperiousness 260

Mood and Temperament 261

Hard Luck 262

Religiosity 263

V. AFFECTS AND EMOTIONS 265

Disjunctive Affects 267

Anger 267

Sadness 270

The Misuse of Emotion 271

Disgust 273

Fear and Anxiety 273

The Conjunctive Affects 275

Joy 275

Sympathy 276

Modesty 277

APPENDIX 279

General Remarks on Education 279

Conclusion 284

UNDERSTANDING
HUMAN NATURE

INTRODUCTION

'^The destiny of man lies in his souV

Herodotus

The science of human nature may not be approached
with too much presumption and pride. On the contrary, its
understanding stamps those who practice it with a cer-
tain modesty. The problem of human nature is one which
presents an enormous task, whose solution has been the
goal of our culture since time immemorial. It is a science
that can not be pursued with the sole purpose of developing
occasional experts. Only the understanding of human na-
ture by every human being can be its proper goal. This is
a sore point with academic investigators who consider their
researches the exclusive property of a scientific group.

Owing to our isolated life none of us knows very much
about human nature. In former times it was impossible for
human beings to live such isolated lives as they live to-
day. We have from the earliest days of our childhood
few connections with humanity. The family isolates us.
Our whole way of living inhibits that necessary intimate
contact with our fellow men, which is essential for the de-
velopment of the science and art of knowing human na-
ture. Since we do not find sufficient contact with our fellow
men, we become their enemies. Our behavior towards them
is often mistaken, and our judgments frequently false, sim-
ply because we do not adequately understand human na-
ture. It is an oft-repeated truism that human beings walk
past, and talk past, each other, fail to make contacts, be-

3

4 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

cause they approach each other as strangers, not only in
society, but also in the very narrow circle of the family.
There is no more frequent complaint than the complaint
of parents that they cannot understand their children,
and that of children that they are misunderstood by their
parents. Our whole attitude toward our fellow man is de-
pendent upon our understanding of him; an implicit
necessity for understanding him therefore is a fundamental
of the social relationship. Human beings would live to-
gether more easily if their knowledge of human nature
were more satisfactory. Disturbing social relationships
could then be obviated, for we know that unfortunate ad-
justments are possible only when we do not understand one
another and are therefore exposed to the danger of being
deceived by superficial dissimulations.

It is now our purpose to explain why an attempt is made
to approach the problem from the standpoint of the med-
ical sciences, with the objective of laying the foundations
of an exact science in this enormous field ; and to determine
what the premises of this science of human nature must be,
what problems it must solve, and what results might be
expected from it.

In the first place, psychiatry is already a science which
demands a tremendous knowledge of human nature. The
psychiatrist must obtain insight into the soul of the neu-
rotic patient as quickly and as accurately as possible. In
this particular field of medicine one can judge, treat, and
prescribe effectively only when one is quite sure of what
is going on in the soul of the patient. Superficiality has no
place here. Error is followed quickly by punishment, and
the correct understanding of the ailment is crowned by suc-
cess in the treatment. In other words, a very effective test
of our knowledge of human nature occurs. In ordinary life,
an error in the judgment of another human being need not

INTRODUCTION 5

be followed by dramatic consequences, for these may occur
so long after the mistake has been made that the connection
is not obvious. Often we find ourselves astonished to see
what great misfortunes follow decades after a misinterpre-
tation of a fellow man. Such dismal occurrences teach us
the necessity and duty of every man to acquire a working
knowledge of human nature.

Our examinations of nervous diseases prove that the psy-
chic anomalies, complexes, mistakes, which are found in
nervous diseases are fundamentally not different in struc-
ture from the activity of normal individuals. The same
elements, the same premises, the same movements, are un-
der consideration. The sole difference is that in the nervous
patient they appear more marked, and are more easily rec-
ognized. The advantage of this discovery is that we can
learn from the abnormal cases, and sharpen our eye for
the discovery of related movements and characteristics in
the normal psychic life. It is solely a question of that
training, ardor, and patience which are required by any
profession.

The first great discovery was this: the most important
determinants of the structure of the soul life are generated
in the earliest days of childhood. In itself this was not such
an audacious discovery; similar findings had been made
by the great students of all times. The novelty lay in the
fact that we were able to join the childhood experiences,
impressions, and attitudes, so far as we were capable of
determining them, with the later phenomena of the soul
life, in one incontrovertible and continuous pattern. In this
way we were able to compare the experiences and attitudes
of the earliest childhood days with the experiences and at-
titudes of the mature individual later on in life; and in
this connection the important discovery was made that the
single manifestations of the psychic life must never be

6 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

regarded as entities sufficient nnto themselves. It was
learned that we could gain an understanding of these sin-
gle manifestations only when we considered them as par-
tial aspects of an indivisible whole, and that these single
manifestations could be valued only when we could de-
termine their place in the general stream of activity, in
the general behavior pattern — only when we could dis-
cover the individual's whole style of life, and make per-
fectly clear that the secret goal of his childhood attitude
was identical with his attitude in maturity. In short, it
was proven with astonishing clarity that, from the stand-
point of psychic movements, no change had taken place.
The outer form, the concretization, the verbalization of
certain psychic phenomena might change, but the funda-
mentals, the goal, the dynamics, everything which directed
the psychic life towards its final objective, remained con-
stant. A mature patient who has an anxious character,
whose mind is constantly filled with doubts and mistrust,
whose every effort is directed toward isolating himself from
society, shows the identical character traits and psychic
movements in his third and fourth year of life, though
in their childish simplicity they are more transparently
interpreted. We made it a rule therefore to direct the
greater part of our investigation to the childhood of all
patients; and thus we developed the art of being able,
often, to reveal characteristics of a mature person whose
childhood we knew, before we were told of them. What we
observe in him as an adult we consider the direct pro-
jection of that which he has experienced in childhood.
When we hear the most vivid recollections of a patient 's
childhood, and know how to interpret these recollections
correctly, we can reconstruct with great accuracy the pat-
tern of his present character. In doing this we make use of
the fact that an individual can deviate from the behavior

INTRODUCTION 7

into which he has grown in childhood only with great
difficulty. Very few individuals have ever been able to
change the behavior pattern of their childhood, though
in adult life they have found themselves in entirely dif-
ferent 'situations. A change of attitude in adult life need
not necessarily signify a change of behavior pattern. The
psychic life does not change its foundation ; the individual
retains the same line of activity both in childhood and in
maturity, leading us to deduce that his goal in life is also
unaltered. There is another reason for concentrating our
attention upon childhood experiences if we wish to change
the behavior pattern. It makes little difference whether
we alter the countless experiences and impressions of an
individual in maturity; what is necessary is to discover
the fundamental behavior pattern of our patient. Once this
is understood we can learn his essential character and the
correct interpretation of his illness.

The examination of the soul life of the child thus be-
came the fulcrum of our science, and a great many re-
searches were dedicated to the study of the first years of
life. There is so much material in this field which has never
been touched nor probed that everyone is in a position to
discover new and valuable data which would prove of im-
mense use in the study of human nature.

A method of preventing bad character traits was simul-
taneously developed, since our studies do not exist for
their own sake but for the benefit of mankind. Quite with-
out previous thought, our researches led into the field of
pedagogy, to which we have contributed for years. Peda-
gogy is a veritable treasure-trove for any one who wishes
to experiment in it, and apply to it what he has found val-
uable in the study of human nature, because pedagogy,
like the science of human nature, is not to be got out of
books, but must be acquired in the practical school of life.

8 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

We must identify ourselves with every manifestation of
the soul life, live ourselves into it, accompany human
beings through their joys and their sorrows, in much the
same way that a good painter paints into a portrait those
characteristics which he has felt in the person of his sub-
ject. The science of human nature is to be thought of as
an art which has many instruments at its disposal, an art
closely related to all other arts, and useful to them. In lit-
erature and poetry, particularly, it is of exceptional import.
Its first object must be to enlarge our knowledge of human
beings, that is to say, it must enable us all to acquire the
possibility of fashioning for ourselves a better and a riper
psychic development.

One of our great difficulties is that we very frequently
find people extraordinarily sensitive on just the point of
their understanding of human nature. There are very few
human beings who do not consider themselves masters in
this science even though they have had very few studies
preparatory to their degree ; and there are even fewer such
who would not feel offended if one would demand that they
put their knowledge of mankind to the test. Those who
really wish to know human nature are only those who
have experienced the worth and value of people through
their own empathy, that is, through the fact that they
also have lived through psychic crises, or have been able
to fully recognize them in others.

From this circumstance arises the problem and the ne-
cessity of finding a precise tactic and strategy, and a tech-
nique in the application of our knowledge. For nothing is
more hateful, and nothing will be met with a more critical
glance, than that we should brusquely throw into the face
of an individual the stark facts which we have discovered
in the exploration of his soul. It might be well to advise
anyone who does not want to be hated that he be careful in

INTRODUCTION 9

this very connection. An excellent way to acquire a bad rep-
utation is carelessly to make use of facts gained through a
knowledge of human nature, and misuse them, as for in-
stance in the desire to show how much one knows or has
guessed concerning the character of one^s neighbor at a
dinner. It is also dangerous to cite merely the basic truths of
this science as finished products, for the edification of some-
one who does not understand the science as a whole. Even
those who do understand the science would feel themselves
insulted through such a procedure. We must repeat what
we have already said: the science of human nature com-
pels us to modesty. We may not announce the results of our
experiments unnecessarily and hastily. This would be ger-
mane only to a little child who was anxious to parade him-
self and show off all the things that he can do. It is hardly
to be considered as an appropriate action for an adult.

We should advise the knower of the human soul first to
test himself. He should never cast the results of his experi-
ments which he has won in the service of mankind, into the
face of an unwilling victim. He would only be making fresh
difficulties for a still-growing science, and actually defeat
his purpose ! We should then have to bear the onus of mis-
takes which had arisen from the unthinking enthusiasm of
young explorers. It is better to remain careful and mindful
of the fact that we must have a complete whole in view be-
fore we can draw any conclusions about its parts. Such
conclusions, furthermore, should be published only when
we are quite certain that they are to someone's advantage.
One can accomplish a great deal of mischief by asserting
in a bad way, or at an improper moment, a correct con-
clusion concerning character.

We must now, before going on with our considerations,
meet a certain objection which has already suggested it-
self to many readers. The foregoing assertion, that the

10 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

style of life of the individual remains unchanged, will be
incomprehensible to many, because an individual has so
many experiences in life which change his attitude toward
it. "We must remember that any experience may have many
interpretations. We will find that there are no two people
who will draw the same conclusion from a similar expe-
rience. This accounts for the fact that our experiences do
not always make us any cleverer. One learns to avoid some
difficulties, it is true, and acquires a philosophical attitude
towards others, but the pattern along which one acts does
not change as a result of this. We will see in the course of
our further considerations that a human being always
employs his experiences to the same end. Closer examination
reveals that all his experiences must fit into his style of
life, into the mosaic of his life's pattern. It is proverbial
that we fashion our own experiences. Everyone determines
how and what he will experience. In our daily life we
observe people drawing whatever conclusions they desire
from their experiences. There is the man who constantly
makes a certain mistake. If you succeed in convincing him
of his mistake, his reactions will be varied. He may con-
clude that, as a matter of fact, it was high time to avoid
this mistake. This is a very rare conclusion. More prob-
ably he will object that he has been making this mistake
so long that he is now no longer able to rid himself of the
habit. Or he will blame his parents, or his education, for
his mistake ; he may complain that he has never had any-
one who ever cared for him, or that he was very much
petted, or that he was brutally treated, and excuse his
error with an alibi. Whatever excuse he makes, he betrays
one thing, and that is that he wishes to be excused of
further responsibility. In this manner he has an appar-
ent justification and avoids all criticism of himself. He
himself is never to blame. The reason he has never ac-

INTRODUCTION 11

complished what he desired to do is always someone else's
fault. What such individuals overlook is the fact that they
themselves have made very few efforts to obviate their mis-
takes. They are far more anxious to remain in error, blam-
ing their bad education with a certain fervor, for their
faults. This is an effective alibi so long as they wish to
have it so. The many possible interpretations of an expe-
rience and the possibility of drawing various conclusions
from any single one, enables us to understand why a per-
son does not change his behavior pattern, but turns and
twists and distorts his experiences until they fit it. The
hardest thing for human beings to do is to know themselves
and to change themselves.

Any one who is not a master in the theory and technique
of the science of human nature would experience great
difficulty in attempting to educate human beings to be
better men. He would be operating entirely on the surface,
and would be drawn into the error of believing that be-
cause the external aspect of things had changed, he had
accomplished something significant. Practical cases show
us how little such technique will change an individual, and
how all the seeming changes are only apparent changes,
valueless so long as the behavior pattern itself has not been
modified.

The business of transforming a human being is not a
simple process. It demands a certain optimism and pa-
tience, and above all the exclusion of all personal vanity,
since the individual to be transformed is not in duty bound
to be an object of another's vanity. The process of transfor-
mation, moreover, must be conducted in such a way that it
seems justified for the one changed. We can easily under-
stand that some one will refuse a dish which would other-
wise be very tasty to him if it is not prepared and offered
to him in an appropriate manner.

12 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

The science of human nature has yet another aspect,
which we may call its social aspect. Human beings would
doubtless get along with each other better, and would
approach each other more closely, were they able to under-
stand one another better. Under such circumstances it
would be impossible for them to disappoint and deceive
each other. An enormous danger to society lies in this
possibility of deception. This danger must be demonstrated
to our fellow-workers, whom we are introducing to this
study. They must be capable of making those upon whom
they are practicing their science understand the value of
the unknown and unconscious forces working within us;
in order to help them they must be cognizant of all the
veiled, distorted, disguised tricks and legerdemain, of
human behavior. To this end we must learn the science of
human nature and practice it consciously with its social
purpose in view.

Who is best fitted to collect the material of this science,
and to practice it ? We have already noted that it is impos-
sible to practice this science only theoretically. It is not
enough simply to know all the rules and data. It is neces-
sary to transmute our studies into practice, and correlate
them so that our eyes will acquire a sharper and deeper
view than has been previously possible. This is the real pur-
pose of the theoretical side of the science of human nature.
But we can make this science living only when we step out
into life itself and test and utilize the theories which we
have gained. There is an important reason for our question.
In the course of our education we acquire too little knowl-
edge of human nature — and much of what we learn is in-
correct, because contemporary education is still unsuited to
give us a valid knowledge of the human soul. Every child
is left entirely to himself to evaluate his experiences prop-
erly, and to develop himself beyond his classroom work.

INTRODUCTION 13

There is no tradition for the acquisition of a true knowl-
edge of the human soul. The science of human nature finds
itself today in the condition that chemistry occupied in the
days of alchemy.

We have found that those who have not been torn out
of their social relationships by the complicated muddle
of our educational system are best adapted to pursue these
researches in human nature. We are dealing with men and
women who are, in the last analysis, either optimists, or
fighting pessimists who have not been driven to resigna-
tion by their pessimism. But contact with humanity, alone,
is not enough. There must be experience as well. A real
appreciation for human nature, in the face of our inade-
quate education today, will be gained only by one class of
human beings. These are the contrite sinners, either those
who have been in the whirlpool of psychic life, entangled
in all its mistakes and errors, and saved themselves out of
it, or those who have been close to it and felt its currents
touching them. Others naturally can learn it, especially
when they have the gift of identification, the gift of empa-
thy. The best knower of the human soul will be the one who
has lived through passions himself. The contrite sinner
seems as valuable a type in our day and age as he was in the
days when the great religions developed. He stands much
higher than a thousand righteous ones. How does this hap-
pen? An individual who has lifted himself above the dif-
ficulties of life, extricated himself from the swamp of liv-
ing, found power to profit by bad experiences, and elevate
himself as a result of them, understands the good and the
bad sides of life. No one can compare with him in this un-
derstanding, certainly not the righteous one.

When we find an individual whose behavior pattern has
rendered him incapable of a happy life, there arises out
of our knowledge of human nature the implicit duty to

U UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

aid him in readjusting the false perspectives with which
he wanders through his life. We must give him better per-
spectives, perspectives which are adapted to the community,
which are more appropriate for the achievement of happi-
ness in this existence. We must give him a new system of
thought, indicate another pattern for him in which the
social feeling and the communal consciousness play a
more important role. We do not purpose to make an ideal
structure of his psychic life. A new viewpoint in itself is
of great value to the perplexed, since from this he learns
where he has gone astray in making his mistakes. Accord-
ing to our view the strict determinists who consider all
human activity as the sequence of cause and effect are
not far from wrong. Causality becomes a different causal-
ity, and the results of experience acquire entirely new
values, when the power of self-knowledge and self-criticism
is still alive, and remains a living motif. The ability to
know one's self becomes greater when one can determine
the wellsprings of his activity and the dynamics of his soul.
Once he has understood this, he has become a different
man and can no longer escape the inevitable consequences
of his knowledge.

BOOK I
HUMAN BEHAVIOR

CHAPTER I

THE SOUL

I. The Concept and Premise op the Psychic Life

We attribute a soul only to moving, living organisms.
The soul stands in innate relationship to free motion.
Those organisms which are strongly rooted have no neces-
sity for a soul. How supernatural it would be to attribute
emotions and thoughts to a deeply rooted plant! To hold
that a plant could, perhaps, accept pain which it could in
no way escape, or that it could have a presentiment of that
which it could not later avoid ! To attribute reason and free
will to it at the same time that we considered it a foregone
conclusion that the plant could not make any use of its
will! Under such conditions the will and the reason of
the plant would of necessity remain sterile.

There is a strict corollary between movement and psychic
life. This constitutes the difference between plant and
animal. In the evolution of the psychic life, therefore, we
must consider everything which is connected with move-
ment. All the difficulties that are connected with change
of place demand of the soul that .it foresee, gather ex-
periences, develop a memory, in order that the organism
be better fitted for the business of life. We can ascertain
then in the very beginning that the development of the
psychic life is connected with movement, and that the
evolution and progress of all those things which are ac-
complished by the soul are conditioned by the free movabil-
17

18 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

ity of the organism. This movability stimulates, promotes,
and requires an always greater intensification of the
psychic life. Imagine an individual to whom we have
predicated every movement, and we can conceive of his
psychic life as at a standstill. *' Liberty alone breeds giants.
Compulsion only kills and destroys.''

II. The Function of the Psychic Organ

If we regard the function of the psychic organ from this
standpoint, we will become aware that we are considering
the evolution of a hereditary capability, an organ for of-
fense and defense with which the living organism responds
according to the situation in which it find itself. The
psychic life is a complex of aggressive and security-
finding activities whose final purpose is to guarantee the
continued existence on this earth of the human organism,
and to enable him to securely accomplish his development.
If we grant this premise, then further considerations grow
out of it, which we deem necessary for a true conception
of the soul. We cannot imagine a psychic life which is
isolated. We can only imagine a psychic life bound up
with its environment, which receives stimuli from the out-
side and somehow answers them, which disposes of capa-
bilities and powers which are not fitted to secure the organ-
ism against the ravages of the outer world, or somehow
bind it to these forces, in order to guarantee its life.

The relationships which suggest themselves from this are
many. They have to do with the organism itself, the pecu-
liarities of human beings, their physical nature, their assets
and their defects. These are entirely relative concepts, since
it is entirely a relative matter whether a power or an or-
gan shall be interpreted as asset or liability. These values
can be given only by the situations in which the indi-

THE SOUL 19

vidual finds himself. It is very well-known that the foot
of man is, in a sense, a degenerate hand. In an animal
which had to climb this would be of decided disadvantage,
but for a man, who must walk on the flat ground, it is of
such advantage that no one would prefer a ** normal" hand
to a *' degenerate " foot. As a matter of fact, in our per-
sonal lives, as in the lives of all peoples, inferiorities are
not to be considered as the source of all evil. Only the
situation can determine whether they are assets or liabil-
ities. When we recall how variegated the relationships are
between the cosmos, with its day and night, its dominance
of the sun, its movability of atoms, and the psychic life of
man, we realize how much these influences affect our psychic
life.

III. PURPOSIVENESB ( TELEOLOGY ) IN THE PsYCHIC

Life

The first thing we can discover in the psychic trends is
that the movements are directed toward a goal. We cannot,
therefore, imagine the human soul as a sort of static whole.
We can imagine it only as a complex of moving powers
which are, however, the result of a unit cause, and which
strive for the consummation of a single goal. This teleology,
this striving for a goal, is innate in the concept of adapta-
tion. We can only imagine a psychic life with a goal to-
wards which the movements which exist in the psychic life,
are directed.

The psychic life of man is determined hy his goal. No
human being can think, feel, will, dream, without all these
activities being determined, continued, modified and di-
rected, toward an ever-present objective. This results, of
itself, from the necessity of the organism to adapt it&elf
and respond to the environment. The bodily and psychic

20 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

phenomena of human life are based upon those funda-
mentals which we have demonstrated. We cannot conceive
of a psychic evolution except within the pattern of an
ever-present objective, which is determined in itself by
the dynamics of life. The goal itself we may conceive as
changing or as static.

On this basis all phenomena of the soul life may be
conceived as preparations for some future situation. It
seems hardly possible to recognize in the psychic organ,
the soul, anything but a force acting toward a goal, and
Individual Psychology considers all the manifestations of
the human soul as though they were directed toward a
goal.

Knowing the goal of an individual, and knowing, also,
something of the world, we must understand what the
movements and expressions of his life mean, and what
their value is as a preparation for his goal. "We must know
also what type of movements this individual must make to
reach his goal, just as we know what path a stone must
take if we let it drop to earth, although the soul knows no
natural law, for the ever-present goal is always in flux.
If, however, one has an ever-present goal, then every psychic
tendency must follow with a certain compulsion, as though
there were a natural law which it obeyed. A law governing
the psychic life exists, to be sure ; but it is a man-made law.
If anyone feels that the evidence is sufficient to warrant
speaking of a psychic law he has been deceived by ap-
pearances, for when he believes that he has demonstrated
the unchangeable nature and determination of circum-
stance, he has stacked the cards. If a painter desires to
paint a picture, one attributes to him all the attitudes
which are germane to an individual who has that goal
before his eyes. He will make all the necessary movements
with inevitable consequence, just as though there were

THE SOUL 21

a natural law at work. But is he under any necessity to
paint the picture!

There is a difference between movements in nature and
those in the human soul life. All the questions about free
will hinge upon this important point. Nowadays it is be-
lieved that human will is not free. It is true that human
will becomes bound as soon as it entangles itself or binds
itself to a certain goal. And since circumstances in the cos-
mic, animal, and social relationships of man frequently
determine this goal, it is not strange that the psychic life
should often appear to us as though it were under the
regency of unchangeable laws. But if a man, for example,
denies his relationships to society and fights them, or refuses
to adapt himself to the facts of life, then all these seeming
laws are abrogated and a new law steps in which is deter-
mined by the new goal. In the same manner, the law of
communal life does not bind an individual who has be-
come perplexed at life and attempts to extirpate his feel-
ing for his fellowmen. And so we must assert that a move-
ment in the psychic life must arise of necessity only when
an appropriate goal has been posited.

On the other hand, it is quite possible to deduce what the
goal of an individual must be from his present activities.
This is of the greater importance because so few people
know exactly what their goal is. In actual practice it is the
procedure which we must follow in order to gain a knowl-
edge of mankind. Since movements may have many mean-
ings this is not always so simple. "We can however take
many movements of an individual, compare them, and
graphically represent them; in this way we arrive at an
understanding of a human being by connecting two points
wherein a definite attitude of the psychic life was ex-
pressed, in which the difference in time is noted by a curve.
This mechanism is utilized to obtain a unified impression

22 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

of a whole life. An example will serve to illustrate how we
may rediscover a childhood pattern in an adult, in all its
astonishing similarity.

A certain thirty-year-old man of extraordinarily ag-
gressive character, who achieved success and honor despite
difficulties in his development, comes to the physician in
circumstances of greatest depression, and complains that
he has no desire to work or to live. He explains that he
is about to be engaged, but that he looks at the future with
great mistrust. He is plagued by a strong jealousy, and
there is great danger that his engagement will be broken.
The facts in the case, which he brings up to prove his
point, are not very convincing. Since no one can reproach
the young lady, the obvious distrust which he shows lays
him open to suspicion. He is one of those many men who
approach another individual, feel themselves attracted, but
immediately assume an aggressive attitude, which destroys
the very contact which they seek to establish.

Now let us plot the graph of this man's style of life as
we have indicated above, by taking out one event in his
life and seeking to join it up with his present attitude.
According to our experience, we usually demand the first
childhood remembrance, even though we know that it is
not always possible to test the value of this remembrance
objectively. This was his first childhood remembrance: he
was at the market place with his mother and his younger
brother. Because of the turmoil and crowding, his mother
took him, the elder brother, on her arm. As she noticed
her error, she put him down again and took the younger
child up, leaving our patient to run around crushed by
the crowd, very much perplexed. At that time he was four
years old. In the recital of this remembrance, we hear the
identical notes that we surmised in a description of his
present complaint. He is not certain of being the favored

THE SOUL 23

one, and he cannot bear to think that another might be
favored. Once the connection .is made clear to him, our
patient, very much astonished, sees the relationship im-
mediately.

The goal toward which every human being's actions are
directed, is determined by those influences and those im-
pressions which the environment gives to the child. The
ideal state, that is, the goal, of each human being, is prob-
ably formed in the first months of his life. Even at this time
certain sensations play a role which evoke a response of
joy or discomfort in the child. Here the first traces of a
philosophy of life come to the surface, although expressed
in the most primitive fashion. The fundamental factors
which influence the soul life are fixed at the time when the
child is still an infant. Upon these foundations a super-
structure is built, which may be modified, influenced, trans-
formed. A multiplicity of influences soon forces the child
into a definite attitude towards life, and conditions his par-
ticular type of response to the problems which life gives.

Investigators who believe the characteristics of an adult
are noticeable in his infancy are not far wrong; this ac-
counts for the fact that character is often considered he-
reditary. But the concept that character and personality
are inherited from one's parents is universally harmful
because it hinders the educator in his task and cramps his
confidence. The real reason for assuming that character
is inherited lies elsewhere. This evasion enables anyone who
has the task of education to escape his responsibilities by
the simple gesture of blaming heredity for the pupil's fail-
ures. This, of course, is quite contrary to the purpose of
education.

Our civilization makes important contributions to the
determination of the goal. It sets boundaries against which
a child batters himself until he finds a way to the fulfill-

24? UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

ment of his wishes which promises both security and
adaptation to life. How much security the child demands in
relation to the actualities of our culture may be learned
early in his life. By security we do not consider only se-
curity from danger; we refer to that further coefficient of
safety which guarantees the continued existence of the hu-
man organism under optimum circumstances, in very much
the same way that we speak of the *' coefficient of safety"
in the operation of a well-planned machine. A child ac-
quires this coefficient of safety by demanding a * Spins'*
factor of safety greater than is necessary merely for the
satisfaction of his given instincts, greater than would be
necessary for a quiet development. Thus arises a new move-
ment in his soul life. This new movement is, very plainly,
a tendency toward domination and superiority. Like the
grownup, a child wants to out-distance all his rivals. He
strains for a superiority which will vouchsafe him that se-
curity and adaptation which are synonymous with the goal
he has previously set for himself. There thus wells up a
certain unrest in his psychic life which becomes markedly
accentuated as time goes on. Suppose now that the world
requires a more intensive response. If in this time of need
the child does not believe in his own ability to overcome
his difficulties we will notice his strenuous evasions and
complicated alibis, which serve only to make the underly-
ing thirst for glory the more evident.

In these circumstances the immediate goal frequently
becomes the evasion of all greater difficulties. This type
recoils from difficulties or wriggles out of them in order
temporarily to evade the demands of life. We must under-
stand that the reactions of the human soul are not final
and absolute: every response is but a partial response,
valid temporarily, but in no way to be considered a fijial
solution of a problem. In the development of the child-

THE SOUL 25

soul especially, are we reminded that we are dealing with
temporary crystallizations of the goal idea. We cannot ap-
ply the same criteria to the child soul that we use to meas-
ure the adult psyche. In the case of the child we must look
farther and question the objective to which the energies
and activities working themselves out in his life, would
eventually lead him. Could we translate ourselves into his
soul, we could understand how each expression of his power
was appropriate to the ideal which he had created for him-
self as the crystallization of a final adaptation to life. We
must assume the child's point of view if we want to know
why he acts as he does. The feeling-tone connected with
his point of view directs the child in various ways. There
is the way of optimism, in which the child is confident of
easily solving the problems which he meets. Under these
circumstances he will grow up with the characteristics of
an individual who considers the tasks of life eminently
within his power. In his case we see the development of
courage, openness, frankness, responsibility, industry, and
the like. The opposite of this is the development of pessi-
mism. Imagine the goal of the child who is not confident of
being able to solve his problems! How dismal the world
must appear to such a child ! Here we find timidity, intro-
spectiveness, distrust, and all those other characteristics and
traits with which the weakling seeks to defend himself.
His goal will lie beyond the boundaries of the attainable,
but far behind the fighting front of life.

CHAPTER II

SOCIAIi ASPECTS OF THE PSYCHIC LIFB

In order to know how a man thinks, we have to examine
his relationship to his fellowmen. The relation of man to
man is determined on the one hand by the very nature
of the cosmos, and is thus subject to change. On the other
hand, it is determined by fixed institutions such as political
traditions in the community or nation. We cannot compre-
hend the psychic activities without at the same time under-
standing these social relationships.

I. The Absolute Truth

Man's soul cannot act as a free agent because the neces-
sity of solving the problems which constantly arise, de-
termines the line of its activity. These problems are indivis-
ibly bound up with the logic of man's communal life; the
essential conditions of this group-existence influence the
individual, yet the facts of the communal life seldom al-
low themselves to be influenced by the individual, and then
only to a certain degree. The existing conditions of our
communal life however cannot yet be considered final;
they are too numerous, and are subject to much change
and transformation. We are hardly in a position to com-
pletely illuminate the dark recesses of the problem of the
psychic life, and understand it thoroughly, since we can
not escape from the meshes of our own relationships.

Our sole recourse in this quandary is to assume the logic
26

SOCIAL ASPECTS OF THE PSYCHIC LIFE 27

of our group life as it exists on this planet as though it
were an ultimate absolute truth which we could approach
step by step after the conquest of mistakes and errors aris-
ing from our incomplete organization and our limited cap-
abilities as human beings.

An important aspect of our considerations lies in the
materialistic stratification of society which Marx and
Engels have described. According to their teaching, the
economic basis, the technical form in which a people lives,
determines the ** ideal, logical superstructure, ' ' the think-
ing and behavior of individuals. Our conception of the
** logic of human communal life,*^ of the '* absolute truth,'*
is in part an agreement with those concepts. History, and
our insight into the life of the individual (that is, our In-
dividual Psychology), have taught us however that it is
occasionally expedient for the individual to make a mis-
taken response to the demands of an economic situation.
In attempting to evade the economic situation, he may be-
come inextricably entangled in the meshes of his own mis-
taken reactions. Our way to the absolute truth will lead
over countless errors of this kind.

II. The Need for Communal Life

The rules of communal life are really just as self-explan-
atory as the laws of climate, which compel certain measures
for the protection against cold, for the building of houses,
and the like. The compulsion toward the community and
communal life exists in institutions whose forms we need
not entirely understand, as in religion, where the sanctifi-
cation of communal formulae serves as a bond between
members of the community. If the conditions of our life are
determined in the first place by cosmic influences, they are
also further conditioned by the social and communal life

28 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

of human beings, and by the laws and regulations which
arise spontaneously from the communal life. The communal
need regulates all relationships between men. The com-
munal life of man antedates the individual life of man. In
the history of human civilization no form of life whose
foundations were not laid communally can be found. No hu-
man being ever appeared except in a community of human
beings. This is very easily explained. The whole animal
kingdom demonstrates the fundamental law that species
whose members are incapable of facing the battle for self-
preservation, gather new strength through herd life.

The herd instinct has served humanity to this end: the
most notable instrument which it has developed against the
rigors of the environment is the soul, whose very essence
is permeated with the necessity of communal life. Darwin
long ago drew attention to the fact that one never found
weak animals living alone ; we are forced to consider man
among these weak animals, because he likewise is not strong
enough to live alone. He can offer only little resistance to
nature. He must supplement his feeble body with many ar-
tificial machines in order to continue his existence upon
this planet. Imagine a man alone, and without an instru-
ment of culture, in a primitive forest ! He would be more
inadequate than any other living organism. He has not the
speed nor the power of other animals. He has not the teeth
of the carnivore, nor the sense of hearing, nor the sharp
eyes, which are necessary in the battle for existence. Man
needs an extensive apparatus to guarantee his existence.
His nutrition, his characteristics, *and his style of life, de-
mand an intensive program of protection.

Now we can understand why a human being can main-
tain his existence only when he has placed himself under
particularly favorable conditions. These favorable condi-

SOCIAL ASPECTS OF THE PSYCHIC LIFE 29

tions have been offered him by the social life. Social life
became a necessity, because through the community and
the division of labor in which every individual subordi-
nated himself to the group, the species was enabled to con-
tinue its existence. Division of labor (which means es-
sentially, civilization) alone is capable of making avail-
able to mankind those instruments of offense and defense
which are responsible for all its possessions. Only after
he learned the division of labor did man learn how to as-
sert himself. Consider the difficulties of childbirth and
the extraordinary precautions which are necessary for
keeping a child alive during its first days! This care and
precaution could be exercised only where there was such
a division of labor. Think of the number of sicknesses and
infirmities to which the human flesh is heir, particularly
in its infancy, and you have some conception of the un-
usual amount of care which human life demands, some
comprehension of the necessity of a social life! The com-
munity is the best guarantee of the continued existence
of human beings!

III. Security and Adaptation

From the previous expositions we conclude that man,
seen from the standpoint of nature, is an inferior organ-
ism. This feeling of his inferiority and insecurity is con-
stantly present in his consciousness. It acts as an ever-
present stimulus to the discovery of a better way and a
finer technique in adapting himself to nature. This stimu-
lus forces him to seek situations in which the disadvan-
tages of the human status in the scheme of life will be
obviated and minimized. At this point arises the necessity
for a psychic organ which can effect the processes of adap-

30 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

tation and security. It would have been much harder to
have made an organism out of the primitive and original
man-animal, which would be capable of fighting nature to
a standstill, by the addition of anatomic defenses such as
horns, claws, or teeth. The psychic organ alone could ren-
der first-aid quickly, and compensate for the organic de-
ficiencies of man. The very stimulation growing from an
uninterrupted feeling of inadequacy, developed foresight
and precaution in man, and caused his soul to develop to
its present state, an organ of thinking, feeling, and acting.
Since society has played an essential role in the process of
adaptation, the psychic organ must reckon from the very
beginning with the conditions of communal life. All its
faculties are developed upon an identic basis : the logic of
communal life.

In the origin of logic with its innate necessity for uni-
versal applicability we should doubtless find the next step
in the development of man's soul. Only that which is uni-
versally useful is logical. Another instrument of the com-
munal life is to be found in articulate si)eech, that miracle
which distinguishes man from all other animals. The phe-
nomenon of speech, whose forms clearly indicate its social
origins, cannot be divorced from this same concept of uni-
versal usefulness. Speech would be absolutely unnecessary
to an individual organism living alone. Speech is justified
only in a community; it is a product of communal life, a
bond between the individuals of the community. Proof fo-r
the correctness of this assumption is to be found in those
individuals who have grown up under circumstances which
have made contact with other human beings difficult or im-
possible. Some of these individuals have often evaded all
connections with society for personal reasons, others are
the victims of circumstance. In each case, they suffer

SOCIAL ASPECTS OF THE PSYCHIC LIFE 31

from speech defects or difficulties and never acquire the
talent for learning foreign languages. It is as though this
bond can be fashioned and retained only when the contact
with humanity is secure.

Speech has an enormously important value in the devel-
opment of the human soul. Logical thinking is possible only
with the premise of speech, which gives us the possibility
of building up concepts and of understanding differences
in values; the fashioning of concepts is not a private mat-
ter, but concerns all society. Our very thoughts and emo-
tions are conceivable only when we premise their universal
utility; our joy in the beautiful is based on the fact that
the recognition, understanding, and feeling for the beauti-
ful are universal. It follows that thoughts and concepts,
like reason, understanding, logic, ethics, and aesthetics, have
their origin in the social life of man ; they are at the same
time bonds between individuals whose purpose is to pre-
vent the disintegration of civilization.

Desire and will may also be understood as aspects of
man's situation as an individual. Will is but a tendency
in the service of the feeling of inadequacy, an instrument
for the attainment of the feeling of a satisfactory adapta-
tion. To **will" means to feel this tendency, and to enter
into its movement. Every voluntary act begins with a
feeling of inadequacy, whose resolution proceeds toward
a condition of satisfaction, of repose, and totality.

IV. The Social Feeling^

We may now understand that any rules that serve to
secure the existence of mankind, such as legal codes, totem

1 Translator's Note — The word "Gemeinschaftsgefiihl" for which
no adequate English equivalent exists, has been rendered as ''social
feeling" throughout the book. "Gemeinschaftsgefiihl" however con-

32 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATUBE

and taboo, superstition, or education, must be governed by
the concept of the community and be appropriate to it.
We have already examined this idea in the case of re-
ligion, and we find adaptation to the community is the
most important function of the psychic organ, in the case
of the individual, as in the case of society. What we call
justice and righteousness, and consider most valuable in
the human character, is essentially nothing more than the
fulfillment of the conditions which arise in the social needs
of mankind. These conditions give shape to the soul and
direct its activity; responsibility, loyalty, frankness, love
of truth, and the like are virtues which have been set up
and retained only by the universally valid principle of
communal life. We can judge a character as bad or good
only from the standpoint of society. Character, just as
any achievement in science, politics or art, becomes note-
worthy only when it has proven its universal value. The
criteria by which we can measure an individual are de-
termined by his value to mankind in general. We compare
an individual with the ideal picture of a f ellowman, a man
who overcomes the tasks and difficulties which lie before
him, in a way which is useful to society in general, a man
who has developed his social feeling to a high degree. Ac-
cording to the expression of Furtmiiller, he is one **who
plays the game of life according to the laws of society."
In the course of our demonstrations it will become increas-
ingly evident that no adequate man can grow up without
cultivating a deep sense of his fellowship in humanity and
practicing the art of being a human being.

notes the sense of human solidarity, the connectedness of man to
man in a cosmic relationship. Wherever the brief phrase "social
feeling" has been used therefore, the wider connotation of a "sense
of fellowship in the human community" should be borne in mind.

CHAPTER III

CHILD AND SOCIETY

Society exacts certain obligations of us which influence
the norms and forms of our life, as well as the develop-
ment of our mind. Society has an organic basis. The point
of tangency between the individual and society may be
found in the fact of man's bisexuality. Not in the isola-
tion of man and woman, but in the community of man
and wife, does he satisfy the impulse of life and achieve
security and guarantee his happiness. When we observe the
slow development of a child, we may be certain no evolu-
tion of human life is possible without the presence of a
protecting community. The various obligations of life carry
in themselves the necessity for a division of labor which not
only does not separate human beings, but strengthens their
bonds.

Everyone must help his neighbor. Everyone must feel
himself bound to his fellow man. The vital relationships of
man to man have originated thus. We must now discuss
in more detail some of these relationships which greet a
child upon his birth.

I. The Situation of the Infant

Every child, dependent as he is on the help of the com-
munity, finds himself face to face with a world that gives
and takes, that expects adaptation and satisfies life. His
33

34 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

instincts are baffled in their fulfillment by obstacles whose
conquest gives him pain. He realizes at an early age that
there are other human beings who are able to satisfy their
urges more completely, and are better prepared to live.
His soul is born, one might say, in those situations of
childhood which demand an organ of integration, whose
function is to make a normal life possible. This the soul
accomplishes by evaluating each situation and directing
the organism to the next one, with the maximum satisfac-
tion of instincts and the least possible friction. In this way
he learns to over-value the size and stature which enable
one to open a door, or the ability to move heavy objects, or
the right of others to give commands and claim obedience
to them. A desire to grow, to become as strong or even
stronger than all others, arises in his soul. To dominate
those who are gathered about him becomes his chief pur-
pose in life, since his elders, though they act as if he were
inferior, are obligated to him because of his very weak-
ness. Two possibilities of action lie open to him. On the
one hand, to continue activities and methods which he
realizes the adults use, and on the other hand to demon-
strate his weakness, which is felt by these same adults as
an inexorable demand for their help. "We shall continually
find this branching of psychic tendencies in children.

The formation of types begins at this early period.
"Whereas some children develop in the direction of the ac-
quisition of power and the selection of a courageous tech-
nique which results in their recognition, others seem to
speculate on their own weaknesses, and attempt to demon-
strate it in the most varied forms. One need but recall the
attitude, the expression, and the bearing of individual chil-
dren, to find individuals who fit into one group or the
other. Every type has a meaning only as we understand

CHILD AND SOCIETY 35

its relationship to the environment. Reflections of envi-
ronment are usually to be found in the behavior of any
child.

The basis of educability lies in the striving of the child
to compensate for his weaknesses. A thousand talents and
capabilities arise from the stimulus of inadequacy. Now
the situations of individual children are extraordinarily
different. In the one case we are dealing with an environ-
ment which is hostile to the child and which gives him the
impression that the whole world is an enemy country. The
incomplete perspectives of child thought-processes explain
this impression. If his education does not forestall this fal-
lacy, the soul of such a child may develop so that in later
years he will act always as if the world really were an
enemy country. His impression of hostility will become
accentuated as soon as he meets with greater difficulties in
life. This occurs frequently in the case of children with
inferior organ-systems. Such children greet their environ-
ment with an attitude entirely different from those who
come into the world with relatively normal organs. Organic
inferiority can express itself in difficulties of motion, in
inadequacies of single organs, or in weakened resistance
of the entire organism, which results in frequent sickness.

Difficulties in facing the world are not necessarily caused
only by deficiencies of the childish organism. The unrea-
sonable demands made on a child by a foolish environment
(or the unfortunate manner in which these demands are
presented to him) are comparable to actual difficulties in
the environment. A child who desires to adapt himself to
his environment suddenly finds difficulties lying in his
way, especially where he grows up in an environment
which has itself lost its courage and is imbued with a
pessimism only too quickly transferred to the child.

36 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

II. The Influence of Difficulties

In view of the obstacles which approach every child
from countless angles, it is not to be wondered at that
his response is not always adequate. His psychic habits
have but a short time to develop, and the child finds
himself under the necessity of orientating himself to the
unchangeable conditions of actuality, while his technique of
adjustment is still immature. Whenever we consider any
number of mistaken responses to the environment we find
ourselves dealing with constant developmental attempts on
the part of the soul to make a correct response and to pro-
gress throughout life as in a continual experiment. The
thing which we particularly see in the expression of the
child's behavior pattern is the type of response which an
adolescent gives in a definite situation, in the course of his
maturation. His response attitude gives us an insight into
his soul. We must at the same time take cognizance of the
fact that the responses of any individual, just as those of
society, are not to be judged according to a pattern.

The obstacles a child meets with in the development of
his soul usually result in the stunting or distortion of his
social feeling. They may be divided into those which arise
out of defects in his physical environment ; such as origi-
nate in abnormal relationships in his economic, social, ra-
cial, or family circumstances ; and further, into those which
arise out of defect in his bodily organs. Our civilization is
a culture which is based upon the health and adequacy of
fully-developed organs. Therefore, a child whose important
organs suffer defects is at a disadvantage in solving the
problems of life. Children who learn to walk late, or who
have difficulties of any kind in locomotion, or those who
learn to speak late, who are clumsy for a long time be-
cause the development of their cerebral activity takes

CHILD AND SOCIETY 37

longer than in the case of the usual child, belong in this
class. We all know how such children are constantly bump-
ing themselves, are clumsy and slow, and carry with them
a burden of bodily and psychic sorrows. They are obviously
not tenderly touched by a world which was not appro-
priately fashioned for them. Difficulties which arise out
of some such inadequate development are many. Of course
there is always the possibility that in the course of time
a compensation is established aiitomatically without a
scar remaining, if the bitterness of the psychic need has
not, in the meantime, developed in the child an attitude
of despair which is felt in his later life; such a state of
affairs may be complicated, in addition, by economic help-
lessness. It is easy to understand that the fixed laws of
human society are but poorly comprehended by defectively
equipped children. They look with suspicion .and mistrust
at the opportunities which they see developing around
them, and have the tendency to isolate themselves and
evade their tasks. They have a peculiarly sharp sense of
life's hostility, and they unconsciously exaggerate it. Their
interest in the bitterness of life is much greater than in
its brighter side. For the most part, they overrate both,
so that theirs is a lifelong attitude of belligerency. They
demand that an extraordinary amount of attention be paid
to them, and of course they think far more of themselves
than of others. They conceive of the necessary obligations
of life more as difficulties than as stimuli. Soon a gulf,
which is continually widened because of their hostility to
their fellows, builds itself between them and their environ-
ment. Now they approach every experience with an ex-
aggerated cautiousness, removing themselves farther and
farther from the truth and actuality with every contact,
and succeed only in continually making fresh difficulties
for themselves.

38 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

Similar difficulties may arise when the normal tender-
ness of parents toward their children is not manifested to
a proper degree. Whenever this occurs serious consequences
for the development of the child ensue. The child's atti-
tude becomes so fixed that he cannot recognize love nor
make the proper use of it, because his instincts for tender-
ness have never been developed. It will be difficult to mobi-
lize a child who has grown up in a family where there has
never been a proper development of the feeling of tender-
ness, to the expression of any kind of tenderness. His whole
attitude in life will be a gesture of escape, an evasion of all
love and all tenderness. The identical effect may be pro-
duced by unthinking parents, educators, or other adults,
who teach children that love and tenderness are improper,
ridiculous, or unmanly, by impressing some pernicious
motto upon them. It is not so seldom that we find that a
child is taught that tenderness is ridiculous. This is es-
pecially the case among those children who have often
been ridiculed. Such children are veritably afraid of show-
ing emotions or feelings because they feel their tendency
to show love toward others is ridiculous and unmanly. They
fight against normal tenderness as though it were an in-
strument to enslave or degrade them. Thus boundaries to
the love life may be set in early childhood. After a brutal
education in which all tenderness is dammed up and re-
pressed, a child withdraws from the circle of his environ-
ment, and loses, little by little, contacts which are of utmost
importance to his soul. Sometimes a single person in the
environment offers an opportunity of concord; when this
happens the child joins himself to his friend in a very deep
relation. This accounts for the individuals who grow up
with social relationships directed to but a single person,
whose social tendencies can never be stretched to include
more than one other human being. The example of the

CHILD AND SOaETY 39

boy who felt himself neglected when he noticed that his
mother was tender only to his younger brother, and there*
fore wandered up and down through life trying to find the
warmth and affection which he had missed from earliest
childhood, is a case in point, which demonstrates the diffi-
culties such a person may find in life. It goes without say-
ing that the education of such individuals proceeds only
under pressure.

Education accompanied by too much tenderness is as
pernicious as education which proceeds without it. A pam-
pered child, as much as a hated one, labors under great
difficulties. Where it is instituted, a desire for tenderness
arises which grows beyond all boundaries; the result is
that a petted child binds himself to one or more persons
and refuses to allow himself to be detached. The value of
tenderness becomes so accentuated by various mistaken ex-
periences that the child concludes that his own love en-
forces certain implicit responsibilities on his grown-ups.
This is easily accomplished: the child says to his parents,
** Because I love you, you must do this or that.'' It is this
type of social dogma which frequently grows up within
the circle of the family. No sooner does the child recognize
a tendency like this on the part of others than he in-
creases his own tenderness in order to make them more
dependent upon him. The flaming up of such tenderness
to one particular person in the family must always be
kept in mind. There is no doubt that the future of a child
is influenced injuriously by such training. His life be-
comes involved in the struggle to hold the tenderness of
others by fair means or foul. To accomplish this he dares
to use every means which lies at hand; he may attempt
the subjugation of his rival, a brother or sister, or occupy
himself with tale-bearing against them. Such a child will
actually incite his brothers to misdeeds in order that he

40 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

may be able to sun himself in the love of his parents in
relative glory and righteousness. He applies a definite so-
cial pressure to his parents in order to fix their atten-
tion on himself. To do this he will leave no stone unturned
until he occupies the limelight and has achieved more im-
portance than any one else. He is lazy, or bad, for the sole
purpose of giving his parents the task of busying them-
selves more with him; he becomes a model child, because
he considers the attention of others a sort of reward.

After the discussion of these mechanisms we may con-
clude that anything may become a means to an end, once
the pattern of psychic activity is fixed. The child may de-
velop himself in an evil direction, in order to arrive at
his goal, or he may become a model child, with the same
goal in view. One can often observe how one of several
children seeks the limelight through particular unruliness,
while another, being shrewder, attains the same goal
through particular virtue.

With the petted children we may also group those who
have had every difficulty removed from their path, whose
capabilities have been belittled in a friendly way. They
have never had an opportunity to meet responsibilities.
Such children have all been denied every opportunity to
make those preparations which are so necessary for future
life. They are not prepared to make contacts with anyone
who is willing to join with them, and are certainly not ca-
pable of making contacts with others, who, as a result of
difficulties and errors in their own childhood, throw ob-
stacles in the way of human contacts. Such children are ut-
terly unprepared for life, because they have never had an
opportunity to practice the conquest of difficulties. As soon
as they step out of the hothouse atmosphere of the tiny
kingdom of their home, they suffer defeats almost of neces-

CHILD AND SOCIETY 41

sity, for the reason that they cannot find any human being
willing to assume the duties and responsibilities which they
expect at the hands of their petting educators, nor in the
degree to which they are accustomed.

All the phenomena of this type have one thing in com-
mon: they tend to the greater or lesser isolation of the
child. Children whose gastro-intestinal tracts are defec-
tive assume a special attitude towards nutrition, and as a
result go through an entirely different developmental
process from children who are normal in this respect.
Children with defective organs have a peculiar style of
life which may eventually drive them into isolation. There
are other children who do not clearly understand their
connection with the environment, and actually try to avoid
it. They cannot find a comrade, hold themselves distinct
from the games of their companions, and, either envi-
ous of their fellows, or, despising the play of children of
the same age, busy themselves in a shut-in preoccupa-
tion with their own private games. Isolation also threatens
children who grow up under the pressure of an education
marked by great strictness. Life will not appear in a favor-
able light to them, because they are expecting bad im-
pressions on every hand. Either they have the impression
that they must be tolerant of all difficulties and take up
their sorrows in a humble way, or they feel like champions,
ready to take up the battle with the environment they
have always found hostile. Such children feel that life
and its tasks are inordinately difficult; it is not hard to
understand how such a child will be busied for the most
part with the defense of his personal boundary lines, lest
he suffer some defeat of his personality. We may expect
him constantly to retain before his eyes an unfriendly
picture of the outer world. Burdened by an exaggerated

42 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

cautiousness, he develops a tendency to evade all greater
difficulties, rather than to lay himself open to the dangers
of a possible defeat.

A further common characteristic of these pampered chil-
dren, which is a sign of their inadequately developed social
feeling, is the fact that they think more of themselves than
of others. In this trait one sees clearly their whole de-
velopment toward a pessimistic philosophy of the world.
It is impossible for them to be happy unless they find a
solution for their false behavior pattern.

III. Man as a Social Being

We have been at some length to show how we can under-
stand the personality of the individual only when we see
him in his context, and judge him in his particular situa-
tion in the world. By situation we mean his place in the
cosmos, and his attitude toward his environment and the
problems of life, such as the challenges of occupation, con-
tact, and union with his fellow men, which are inherent
in his being. In this way we have been able to determine
that the impressions which storm in upon every individual
from the earliest days of his infancy influence his attitude
throughout his whole life. One can determine how a child
stands in relation to life a few months after his birth. It
is impossible to confuse the behavior of two infants after
these months because they have already demonstrated a
well-defined pattern which becomes the clearer as they de-
velop. Variations from the pattern do not occur. The child's
psychic activity becomes increasingly permeated by his
social relationships. The first evidence of the inborn social
feeling unfolds in his early search for tenderness, which
leads him to seek the proximity of adults. The child's love
life is always directed towards others, not, as Freud would

CHILD AND SOCIETY 43

say, upon his own body. According to the person, these
erotic strivings vary in their intensity and manifestation.
In children who are more than two years old these differ-
ences may be demonstrated in their speech. Only under the
stress of the most severe psychopathological degeneration
does the social feeling which has become firmly based in
the soul of every child at this time, forsake him. This so-
cial feeling remains throughout life, changed, colored, cir-
cumscribed in some cases, enlarged and broadened in others
until it touches not only the members of his own family,
but also his clan, his nation, and finally, the whole of
humanity. It is possible that it may extend beyond these
boundaries and express itself towards animals, plants, life-
less objects, or finally towards the whole cosmos. An under-
standing of the necessity for dealing with man as a social
being is the essential conclusion of our studies. Once we
have grasped this, we have gained an important adjunct
to the understanding of man's behavior.

CHAPTER IV

THE WORLD WE LIVE IN

I. The Structure op our Cosmos

Owing to the fact that every human being must make an
adjustment to his environment, his psychic mechanism has
the faculty of taking up impressions from the outer world.
In addition, the psychic mechanism pursues a definite aim
according to a definite interpretation of the world, and
along the lines of an ideal behavior pattern which dates
from early childhood. Although we cannot express this cos-
mic interpretation and this goal in a definite and exact
term, we can nevertheless describe it as an ever present
aura, and as always in contradistinction to the feeling of
inadequacy. Psychic movements can occur only when they
have an innate goal. The construction of a goal, as we
know, premises the capacity for change, and a certain free-
dom of movement. The spiritual enrichment which results
from freedom of movement is not to be undervalued. A
child who raises himself from the ground for the first time
comes into an entirely new world, and in that second he
somehow senses a hostile atmosphere. In his first attempt
at movement, and particularly in rising to his feet and
learning to walk, he experiences various degrees of diffi-
culty, which may either strengthen or destroy his hope for
the future. Impressions which grown-ups might consider
unimportant or commonplace, may have an enormous in-
44

THE WORLD WE LIVE IN 45

fluence on the child's soul and entirely shape his impres-
sion of the world in which he lives. In this way children
who have had difficulties in locomotion construct an ideal
for themselves which is permeated with violent and hasty
movements ; we can discover this ideal by asking them what
their favorite games are, or what they would like to do
when they are grown. Usually such children answer that
they desire to be automobile drivers, locomotive engineers,
or the like — ^thus signifying clearly their desire to over-
come every difficulty which hinders their freedom of move-
ment. The goal of their life is to attain a point at which
their feeling of inferiority and their sense of handicap is
entirely removed by perfect freedom of motion. It is read-
ily understood that such a sense of handicap can originate
easily in the soul of a child who has developed slowly, or
has encountered much sickness in his life. Similarly, chil-
dren who have come into the world with defects in their eyes
attempt to translate the entire world into more intensive
visual concepts. Children who have auditory defects show
an intense interest for certain tones which seem to sound
more pleasant to them; in short, they become ** musical."
Of all the organs with which a child attempts the con-
quest of the world the sense organs are the most important
in the determination of the essential relationships to the
world in which he lives. It is through the sense organs
that one constructs one's cosmic picture. Above all, it is
the eye which approaches the environment, it is the visual
world predominantly which forces itself upon the attention
of every human being and gives him the main data in his
experiences. The visual picture of the world in which we
live has an incomparable significance in that it deals with
unchanging, lasting bases, in contrast to the other sense
organs, the ear, the nose, the tongue, and the skin, which
are sensitive solely to temporary stimuli. There are, how-

46 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

ever, individuals in whom the ear is the predominant
organ. Here a psychic fund of information based more par-
ticularly upon acoustic values is created. In this case the
soul might be said to have a predominantly auditory con-
stellation. Less frequently we find individuals in whom
motor activity is predominant. A predominance of interest
for olfactory or gustatory stimuli determines another type,
and of these, the first type, which is more sensitive to smell,
is under a relative disadvantage in our civilization. Then
there are a number of children in whom the musculature
plays the leading role. This group comes into the world
characterized with a greater restlessness, which forces them
to constant movement in childhood, and to greater activity
in maturity. Such individuals are interested only in such
activities in which the functioning muscles play the chief
role. They exhibit their activity even during sleep, as any-
one can prove for himself by observing them restlessly toss-
ing about in their beds. We must class those * ' fidgety ' * chil-
dren whose restlessness is often considered a vice, in this
category. In general we can say that a child who does not
approach the world with heightened interest in some one
organ or organ group, whether these be his sense organs or
his locomotive apparatus, hardly exists. From the impres-
sions which his more sensitive organ gathers from the
world each child constructs a picture of the world in which
he lives. We can therefore understand a human being only
when we know with what sense organs or organ-systems he
approaches the world, because all his relationships are
colored by this fact; his actions and reactions gain their
value from our knowledge of the influence which his or-
ganic defects have had upon the constellation of his cosmic
picture in his childhood, and thus upon his later develop-
ment.

THE WORLD WE LIVE IN 47

IL Elements in the Development of the Cosmic
Picture

The ever present goal which determines all our activity
influences also the choice, intensity, and activity of those
particular psychic faculties which serve to give shape and
meaning to the cosmic picture. This explains the fact that
each of us experiences a very specific segment of life, or
of a particular event, or, indeed of the entire world in
which we live. Each of us values only that which is appro-
priate to his goal. A real understanding of the behavior of
any human being is impossible without a clear comprehen-
sion of the secret goal which he is pursuing; nor can we
evaluate every aspect of his behavior until we know that
his whole activity has been influenced by this goal.

A. perception

The impressions and stimuli which arise in the outer
world are transmitted by means of the sense organs to
the brain, where certain traces of them may be retained.
On these vestiges are built the world of imagination and the
world of memory. But a perception is never to be com-
pared with a photographic image because something of the
peculiar and individual quality of the person who per-
ceives is inextricably bound up with it. One does not
perceive everything that one sees. No two human beings
react in quite the same way to the identical picture; if
we ask them what they have perceived they will give very
diverse answers. A child perceives only that in his en-
vironment which fits into a behavior pattern previously de-
termined by a variety of causes. The perceptions of chil-
dren whose visual desire is especially well developed have
a predominantly visual character. The majority of man-

48 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

kind is probably visual-minded. Others fill in the mosaic
picture of the world which they have created for them-
selves with predominantly auditory perceptions. These per-
ceptions need not be strictly identical with actuality.
Everyone is capable of reconfiguring and rearranging his
contacts with the outer world to fit his life pattern. The
individuality and uniqueness of a human being consists
in what he perceives and how he perceives. Perception ia
more than a simple physical phenomenon; it is a psychic
function from which we may draw the most far going con-
clusions concerning the inner life.

B. MEMORY

The development of the soul is intimately related to the
necessity for activity, upon the basis of the facts of per-
ception. The soul is innately related to the motility of the
human organism, and its activities are determined by the
goal and purpose of this motility. It is necessary for man
to collect and arrange his stimuli and relationships to the
world in which he lives, and his soul, as an organ of adapta-
tion, must develop all those faculties which play a role
in his defense and are otherwise active in maintaining his
existence.

It is clear now that the individual response of the soul
to the problems of life leaves traces in the structure of the
soul. The functions of memory and evaluation are domi-
nated by the necessity for adaptation. "Without memories it
would be impossible to exercise any precaution for the
future. We may deduce that all recollections have an
unconscious purpose within themselves. They are not for-
tuitous phenomena, but speak clearly the language of en-
couragement or of warning. There are no indifferent or
nonsensical recollections. One can evaluate a recollection
only when one is certain about the goal and purpose which

THE WORLD WE LIVE JN 49

it subserves. It is not important to know why one remem-
bers certain things and forgets others. We remember those
events whose recollection is important for a specific psychic
tendency, because these recollections further an important
underlying movement. We forget likewise all those events
which detract from the fulfillment of a plan. We find thus
that memory, too, is subordinated to the business of pur-
posive adaptation, and that every memory is dominated by
the goal idea which directs the personality-as-a-whole. A
lasting recollection, even though it is a false one, as is often
the case in childhood, where memories are frequently sur-
charged with a one-sided prejudice, may be transposed
out of the realm of the conscious, and appear as an at-
titude, or as an emotional tone, or even as a philosophic
point of view, if this be necessary for the attainment of the
desired goal.

C. IMAGINATION

Nowhere does the uniqueness of an individual show more
clearly than in the products of his fantasy and of his im-
agination. By imagination we mean the reproduction of a
perception without the presence of the object itself which
gave rise to it. In other words imagination is reproduced
perception: — another evidence of the creative faculty of
the soul. The product of imagination is not only the repeti-
tion of a perception (which in itself is a product of the
creative power of the soul), but is an entirely new and
unique product built upon the basis of the perception, just
as the perception was created on the basis of physical
sensations.

Now there are fantasies which far exceed the customary
imagination in sharpness of focus. Such visions are so
sharply outlined that they have a value not of imaginary

50 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

products, but influence the behavior of the individual as
though the absent stimulating object were actually present.
We speak of hallucinations, when fantasies appear as
though they were the result of an actually present stimulus.
The conditions for the appearance of hallucinations are in
no wise different from those which determine fantastic
day dreams. Every hallucination is an artistic creation of
the soul, shaped and constellated according to the goals and
purposes of the particular individual in which it appears.
Let us make this clear with an example.

An intelligent young woman married against the advice
of her parents. Her parents were so angry at her mismar-
riage that they broke off all relations with her. In the course
of time the young woman became convinced that her par-
ents had not treated her well, but many attempts at recon-
ciliation failed because of the pride and obstinacy of both
parties. As a result of her marriage this young woman, who
belonged to an honored and wealthy family, had fallen
into rather impoverished circumstances. Yet externally no
one could observe any signs of unhappiness in her con-
nubial relations. One could have been quite reconciled to
the fact that she had made a good adjustment were it not
for the appearance of a very peculiar phenomenon in her
life.

This girl had grown up as the favorite child of her
father. So intimate had been their relationship that their
present breach was the more remarkable. The occasion of
her marriage, however, caused her father to treat her very
badly, and their rupture was very deep. Even when her
child was born, her parents could not be moved to visit
their daughter or to see the child ; the young woman took
the harsh treatment of her parents the more to heart, be-
cause, actuated by a great ambit'on. she was touched to the
quick by their attitude toward her in a situation in which

THE WORLD WE LIVE IN 51

she might well have been treated with consideration.

We must remember that the mood of this young woman
was completely dominated by her ambition. It is this char-
acter trait which gives us an insight into the reasons why
the breach with her parents affected her so deeply. Her
mother was a stern, righteous person who had many good
qualities, although she had treated her daughter with a
heavy hand. She knew how to submit to her husband, at
least so far as outer appearances were concerned, without
really relinquishing her own rank. Indeed she drew atten-
tion to her submission with a certain pride, and consid-
ered it an honor. Now in this family there was also a son
who was considered a chip of the old block and the future
heir of the family name. The fact that he was considered
somewhat more valuable than our young woman served
only to spur her ambition. The difficulties and poverty
which this young woman, educated in a comparatively
sheltered atmosphere all her life, was experiencing in her
marriage, now caused her to think constantly and with
ever increasing displeasure about the mistreatment she had
received at the hands of her parents.

One night before she had fallen asleep it happened
that a door opened and the Virgin Mary stepped to her
bed and said: ** Because I love you so well, I must tell you
that you will die in the middle of December. I do not want
you to be unprepared.*^

The young woman was not frightened by this appari-
tion, but she wakened her husband and told him every-
thing. On the next day she went to the physician and told
him about it. It was a hallucination. The young woman
maintained that she had seen and heard everything quite
clearly. At first glance this seems impossible, yet when
we apply the key of our knowledge we can understand
it quite well. Here is the situation: a young woman who

52 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

is very ambitious, and, as the examination shows, has the
tendency to dominate everyone else, breaks with her par-
ents and finds herself in poverty. It is quite understand-
able that a human being, in an effort to conquer everything
in the physical sphere in which he lives, should approach
God and converse with Him. If the Virgin Mary had re-
mained only an imaginary figure (as is the case in prayer)
no one would have found anything particularly note-
worthy in this occurrence, but this young woman needed
stronger arguments.

The phenomenon loses all its mystery when we under-
stand what tricks the soul is capable of producing. Is not
every human being who dreams in a similar position? The
difference really is only this: that this young woman can
dream while she is awake. We must add, too, that her feel-
ing of depression has placed her ambition under greater
tension. Now we become aware of the fact that actually
another mother is coming to her, indeed, that Mother who
in popular conception is the greatest Mother of all. These
two mothers must stand in certain contrast to one another.
The Mother of God appeared because her own mother did
not come. The apparition is an accusation against her own
mother and her insufficient love for her child.

The young woman is now trying to find some way of
proving that her parents are wrong. The middle of Decem-
ber is not an insignificant time. It is that time of the year
in which people are more apt to consider their deeper re-
lationships, when most human beings approach each other
with a greater warmth, give presents, and the like. It is
at this time too that the possibility of reconciliation comes
closer, so that we can understand that this particular time
stands in a close relationship to the quandary in which
the young woman finds herself.

The only strange thing in this hallucination seems to be

THE WORLD WE LIVE IN 53

that the friendly approach of this Mother of God is ac-
companied by the sad news of the young woman's ap-
proaching death. The fact that she told her husband of
this vision with an almost happy tone of voice is also not
without significance. This prophecy quickly spread beyond
the narrow circle of her family and the physician had
learned of it on the following day: and it was thus very
simple to bring it about that her mother actually visited
her.

A few days later the Virgin Mary appeared for the
second time and spoke the same words. When the young
woman was asked how her meeting with her own mother
had turned out, she answered that her mother could not
admit that she had done wrong. We see therefore the old
theme cropping up again. Her desire to dominate her
mother had not yet been fulfilled.

At this time it was attempted to make the parents un-
derstand what was actually going on in the life of their
daughter, and as a result, a very satisfactory meeting be-
tween the young woman and her father obtained. A touch-
ing scene occurred, but the young woman was not yet sat-
isfied, because she said there was something theatrical in
her father's behavior. She complained that he had let her
wait too long! Even in triumph she could not rid herself
of the tendency to prove everyone else wrong and herself
to appear in the light of a triumphant victor.

We may conclude from our previous discussion that hal-
lucinations appear in that moment when the psychic ten-
sion is at its greatest and in circumstances in which one
fears that the attainment of one's goal is impossible. There
is no question that hallucinations won a considerable in-
fluence in districts where the population has been some-
what backward in its development, in days gone by.

Descriptions of hallucinations in the writings of trav-

54 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

elers are well known. The mirages wliicli are seen by wan-
derers in the desert, who have lost their way and are suf-
fering from hunger, thirst, and fatigue, are excellent ex-
amples. We can understand that the tension which arises
when life is in danger, compels the imagination of the
sufferer to create a clear and refreshing situation for
himself, in order that he may escape from the unpleasant
oppression of his environment. The mirage represents a
new situation which can encourage the fatigued, refresh
the failing powers of the irresolute, make the traveler
stronger, or more sensitive: or on the other hand, it may
act as a balsam, or narcotic, which can rob his misery of
its horrors.

Hallucination is nothing new for us since we have al-
ready seen similar phenomena in perception, in the mech-
anism of memory, and in imagination. "We shall find these
same processes again when we consider dreams. By ac-
centuating the imagination, and excluding the critique of
the higher centers, it is easy to produce the phenomena of
hallucination. Under circumstances of necessity or danger,
and under the pressure of a situation in which one's power
is threatened, one strives to obviate the feeling of weak-
ness and overcome it, by this mechanism. The greater the
tension, the less the consideration which will be paid to the
critical faculties. Under such circumstances, with the motto
' ' Help yourself as you can ! ' ' anyone with the aid of every
ounce of his psychic energy, can force his imagination to
project itself into the hallucination.

Illusion is closely related to hallucination, the only dif-
ference being that some point of external contact remains,
but is misinterpreted, as is the case in the story of Goethe 's
Erlkomg. The underlying situation, the feeling of psychic
peril, is the same.

Another example will show how the creative power of the

THE WORLD WE LIVE IN 65

soul can produce either an illusion or a hallucination, as
the need arises. A man of excellent family who had never
amounted to anything because of a bad education, held an
unimportant clerkship. He had given up all hope of ever
amounting to anything. His hopelessness weighed heavily
upon him, and in addition his psychic tension was in-
creased by the reproaches of his friends. In these circum-
stances he took to drink, which gave him at once a sweet
forgetfulness, and an excuse for his failure. After some
time he was brought to the hospital in delirium tremens.
Delirium is closely related to hallucination, and in the de-
lirium of alcoholic intoxication, small animals, such as mice,
or insects, or snakes, frequently appear. Other hallucina-
tions which are related to the patient 's occupation may also
occur.

Our patient came into the hands of physicians who were
strongly opposed to the use of alcohol. They put him
through a strict course of treatment and he was completely
freed of his alcoholism, left the hospital cured, and did not
touch alcohol for three years. At this time he returned to
the hospital with a new complaint. He stated that he con-
stantly saw a leering, grinning man who watched him at
his work. He was now a day-laborer. Once when he was
particularly angry because this man was laughing at him
he took his pick and threw it at him to see whether he was
a real man or only an apparition. The apparition dodged
the missile, but thereupon attacked him and beat him badly.

In this case we can no longer speak of a ghost because
the hallucination had very real fists. The explanation is
not hard to find. It was his custom to hallucinate, but he
made his test upon a real man. This shows us clearly that
although he had been freed of his desire to drink, he had in
reality sunk further since his discharge from the hospital.
He had lost his job, had been put out of his house, and

56 UI^DERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

now had to earn his living as a day-laborer, which he as
well as his friends considered the lowest form of work.
The psychic tension in which he had lived had not become
less. Although he had been freed from alcohol he had ac-
tually become poorer by a consolation, despite the great
advantage of this cure. He could do his first job with the
help of drink, for when he was reproached too loudly at
home for not accomplishing anything, the excuse that he
was a drunkard seemed less shameful to him than his in-
capability of holding a job. After his cure he was again
face to face with reality and in a situation which was in no
wise less oppressive than his former one. Should he now
fail he had nothing to console himself with and nothing to
blame, not even alcohol.

In this situation of psychic peril the hallucinations re-
appear. He identifies himself with the previous situation
and looks at the world as if he were still a drunkard, and
says very clearly with this gesture, that he has ruined
his whole life with his drinking and nothing can be done
about it now. By being sick he hoped to be freed from his
little honored, and therefore, for him, very unpleasant oc-
cupation as a ditch digger, without having to make a de-
cision about it himself. The above-mentioned hallucination
lasted for a long time until he finally was forced to the
hospital again. Now he could console himself with the
thought that he could have accomplished a great deal more
had not the misfortune of drink ruined his life. This mech-
anism enabled him to maintain his personal evaluation at
a high level. It was more important for him not to allow
his personal evaluation to sink than it was for him to
work. All his efforts were directed at maintaining the con-
viction that he might have accomplished great things had
Jie not been visited by misfortune. This was the proof
which maintained him in his power relationship and en-

THE WORLD WE LIVE IN 57

abled him to feel that other men were not better than he
but that an impassable obstacle lay in his way. The mood
in which he attempted to find a consoling alibi produced
the apparition of the leering man; the ghost was the sav-
ior of his self-esteem.

III. Fantasy

Fantasy is but another creative faculty of the soul.
Traces of this activity may be found in the various phe-
nomena which we have already described. Just as the pro-
jection of certain memories into the sharp focus of con-
sciousness, or the erection of the bizarre superstructures of
the imagination, fantasy and day-dreaming are to be con-
sidered part of the creative activity of the soul. The
prevision and prejudgment which are an essential faculty
in any mobile organism constitute an important factor in
fantasy. Fantasy is bound up with the mobility of the hu-
man organism and is indeed nothing more than a method
of prevision and prescience. The fantasies of children and
grown-ups, sometimes called day-dreams, are always con-
cerned with the future, the ^* castles in the air" are the
goal of their activity, built up in fictional form as models
for real activity. Examinations of childhood fantasies show
clearly that the striving for power plays the predominant
role. Children deal with the goal of their ambition in their
day-dreams. Most of their fantasies begin with the words
''when I am grown up," and the like. There are many
adults who live as though they still had to grow up. The
clear emphasis on the striving for power indicates to us
again that the soul life can develop only when a certain
goal has been set. In our civilization this goal is the goal
of social recognition and significance. An individual never
remains long at any neutral goal, for the communal life

58 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

of mankind is accompanied by constant self-measurement
which gives rise to the desire for superiority, and the hope
of success in competition. The forms of prevision which
are so evident in the fantasies of children are almost en-
tirely situations in which the child 's power is expressed.

We must not generalize here because it is impossible to
lay down rules for the degree of fantasy or the extent of
imagination. What we have said before is valid for a num-
ber of cases, but may not be applicable to some. Those
children who approach life with belligerent eyes will de-
velop their fantastic powers to greater lengths because
their precaution is stimulated to a greater tension as a
result of their attitude. Weak children for whom life is
not always pleasant develop greater powers of fantasy, and
have the tendency to occupy themselves particularly with
this type of activity. At a certain stage in their develop-
ment their ability to imagine may become a mechanism
whereby the realities of life are evaded. Fantasy may be
misused as a condemnation of reality. In such cases it be-
comes a kind of power-intoxication in an individual who
raises himself above the meanness of living, by the fictional
lever of his imagination.

The social feeling, together with the striving for power,
also plays a great role in the fantasy life. In childhood fan-
tasies, it is only seldom that power strivings appear with-
out some application of this power to social ends. This
trait we see clearly in those fantasies in which the content
concerns itself with being a savior or a good knight, a vic-
tor over evil forces, devils, and the like. The fantasy that
the child does not belong to his own family frequently
occurs. Many children believe that they actually origi-
nated from a different family, and that some day their
real father, some important personage, will come and fetch
them. This happens most frequently where children with

THE WORLD WE LIVE JN 59

a deep feeling of inferiority, hounded by the deprivations
they have suffered, are forced into the background, or be-
come dissatisfied with the love and tenderness they receive
in their family circle. Ideas of grandeur betray themselves
in the external attitude of the child who acts as though he
were already grown up. Sometimes one finds almost pathol-
ogical expressions of this fantasy, as for instance, in chil-
dren who will wear only stiff hats, or go about picking up
cigar butts in order to appear men ; or in the case of young
girls who decide to become men, and bear themselves and
dress themselves in a manner more appropriate to boys.
There are children who are said to have no imagination.
This is surely an error. Either such children do not ex-
press themselves, or there are other reasons which compel
them to take up battle against the appearance of fantasies.
A child may contrive to feel a certain sense of power by
suppressing his imagination. In a cramped striving to ad-
just to reality, these children believe that fantasy is un-
manly or childlike, and refuse to partake in it; and there
are cases in which this disinclination goes so far that their
imagination seems totally lacking.

IV. Dreams: General Considerations

In addition to the previously described day-dreams we
must deal with that important and significant activity
which occurs during our sleep, the night dream. In general
it may be said that the night dreaming is a repetition of
the same process which goes on in day-dreams. Old experi-
enced psychologists have pointed to the fact that the char-
acter of a human being may easily be read from his dreams.
Actually dreams have occupied the thinking of mankind to
an enormous degree since the dawn of history. In the sleep
dream, as in the day-dream, we are concerned with the

60 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

activity of an organism which is attempting to map, plan,
and direct its future life toward a goal of security. The
most apparent difference is that day-dreams are compara-
tively easily understood, whereas sleep dreams are but
seldom comprehended. That dreams are not understand-
able is not surprising and we might easily be tempted to
find this an indication that they are superfluous and in-
significant. For the time being let it be said that the striv-
ing for power of an individual who is seeking to overcome
difficulties and maintain his position in the future, is re-
echoed in his dreams. Dreams offer us important grips on
the problems of the psychic life.

V. Empathy and Identification

The soul has the faculty not only of perceiving what
actually exists in reality, but also of feeling, of guessing,
what will occur in the future. This is an important con-
tribution to the function of pre-vision necessary to any
easily mobile organism since such an organism is constantly
faced with the problem of making adjustments. We call
this faculty identification, or empathy. It is extraordinarily
well developed in human beings. Its extent is so great that
one finds it in every corner of the psychic life. The neces-
sity for pre-vision is the prime condition of its existence.
If we are forced to pre-view, to pre-judge, to presume how
we should act if a certain situation were to occur, we must
learn how to gain a sound judgment of a situation which
has not yet occurred, through correlation of our thinking,
feeling, and perception. It is essential to win a point of
view so that we may either approach the new situation
with more strenuous efforts, or avoid it with greater caution.

Empathy occurs in the moment one human being speaks
with another. It is impossible to understand another indi-

THE WORLD WE LIVE IN 61

vidual if it is impossible at the same time to identify one-
self with him. Drama is the artistic expression of empathy.
Other examples of empathy are those cases in which some-
one has a strange feeling of uneasiness when he notices an-
other in danger. This empathy may be so strong that one
makes involuntary defense movements, even though there
is no danger to oneself. We all know the well known ges-
ture which is made when someone has dropped his glass ! At
a bowling alley one may see certain players following the
course of the ball with movements of their body as though
they wanted to influence its course by this movement ! Sim-
ilarly during football games whole sections of people in the
grand stand will push in the direction of their favorite
team, or make resistive pressure when the opponent team
has the ball. A common expression is the involuntary ap-
plication of imaginary brakes by the occupants of a motor
car whenever they feel that they are in danger. Few people
can pass a tall building in which someone is washing a win-
dow without experiencing certain contractions and defense
movements. When a speaker loses his presence of mind and
cannot proceed, people in the audience are oppressed and
uneasy. In the theatre particularly we can hardly avoid
identifying ourselves with the players, or prevent ourselves
from acting the most varied roles within ourselves. Our
entire life is very much dependent upon the faculty of
identification. If we seek for the origin of this ability to
act and feel as if we were someone else, we can find it in
the existence of an inborn social feeling. This is, as a mat-
ter of fact, a cosmic feeling and a reflection of the connect-
edness of the whole cosmos which lives in us ; it is an ines-
capable characteristic of being a human being. It gives us
the faculty of identifying ourselves with things which are
quite outside our own body.
Just as there are various degrees of the social feeling so

62 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

there are various degrees of empathy. These may be ob-
served even in childhood. There are children who occupy
themselves with dolls just as though they were human
beings, whereas others are more interested in seeing what
is inside of them. By projecting the communal relation-
ships from human beings to less valuable or lifeless objects,
the development of an individual may be entirely stopped.
Cases of cruelty to animals which we see in childhood were
impossible without an almost total absence of the social
feeling, and the ability to identify with other living beings.
The consequences of this defect lead children to develop
interest in things which are of very little value or signif-
icance for their development into fellow human beings.
They think only of themselves, and lose all interest for
the joys or woes of others. These are manifestations which
are intimately related to a deficient degree of empathy.
The inability to identify oneself with another may lead so
far that an individual refuses entirely to cooperate with
his fellow men.

VI. Hypnosis and Suggestion

Individual Psychology answers the question '*How is
it possible for one individual to influence the behavior of
another?" by saying that this phenomenon is one of the
accompanying manifestations of our psychic life. Our
whole communal life were impossible unless one individ-
ual could influence another. This mutual influence becomes
markedly accentuated in some cases, as for instance, in the
relationship between teacher and pupil, between parents
and children, between husband and wife. Under the in-
fluence of the social feeling there exists a certain degree
of willingness to be influenced by one's environment. The
degree of this readiness to be influenced is dependent upon

THE WORLD WE LIVE IN 63

the degree to which the rights of the one on whom the in-
fluence is exerted are considered by that one who exercises
the influence. It is impossible to have a lasting influence
upon an individual whom one is harming. One can influence
another individual best when he is in the mood in which
he feels his own rights guaranteed. This is a very impor-
tant point in pedagogy. Perhaps it is possible to conceive,
or even to carry out some other form of education, but a
system of education which takes this point into consider-
ation will be adequate for the reason that it is connected
with the most primitive instinct in man, the feeling of his
relatedness to man and the cosmos.

It will fail only when it is dealing with a human being
who has purposely withdrawn himself from the influence
of society. Such a withdrawal does not occur by accident. A
lasting war must have occurred, during the course of which
his connections with the world about him have been dis-
solved, little by little, so that now he stands in open op-
position to the social feeling. Every type of influence upon
his behavior is now made more difficult or impossible. One
views the dramatic spectacle of a human being who re-
sponds to every attempt to influence him with a counter
attack of opposition.

We may expect that children who feel themselves op-
pressed by their environment will show a deficient amenity
to the influence of their educators. Cases occur, however,
in which the external pressure is so strong that it removes
all obstacles with the result that the authoritative influ-
ence is retained and obeyed. It is easy to prove that this
obedience is sterile of all social good. It sometimes mani-
fests itself in such a grotesque fashion that it renders the
obedient individual unfit for life. By dint of their servile
obedience such individuals are incapable of any action or
thought without an appropriate command from someone

64 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

else. The great danger which this far reaching submission
carries in itself is to be measured by the fact that there
are children who, when they develop into adults, obey
anyone's commands, even to the commission of crimes.

Interesting examples are to be found in gangs. Those who
carry out the gang's commands belong to this class, where-
as the leader of the gang usually holds himself far from
the scene of action. In almost every important criminal
case dealing with a gang crime, some such servile man has
been the cat's paw. This far-reaching blind obedience at-
tains such unbelievable depths that we can occasionally
find people who are actually proud of their servility, and
find it a way to the satisfaction of their ambition.

If we limit ourselves to normal cases of mutual influ-
ence, we find that those people are most capable of being
influenced, who are most amenable to reason and logic,
those whose social feeling has been least distorted. On the
contrary, those who thirst for superiority and desire dom-
ination are very difficult to influence. Observation teaches
us this fact every day.

When parents complain about a child it is only very
rarely that they do so because of his blind obedience. The
most common complaint arises because of his disobedi-
ence. Examination shows that such children are caught
in a current which would make them superior to their en-
vironment ; they are striving to batter down the cramping
walls of their little life. They have been made unapproach-
able for educational influence by virtue of a mistaken treat-
ment at home.

The intensive striving for power is inversely proportional
to the degree to which one can be educated. Despite this
fact, our family education is concerned, for the most part,
in spurring on the ambition of the child, and awakening
ideas of grandeur in his mind. This does not occur because

THE WORLD WE LIVE IN 65

of thoughtlessness, but because our whole culture is per-
meated with similar grandiose delusions. In the family, as
in our civilization, the greatest emphasis is placed upon
that individual who is greater, and better, and more glori-
ous, than all the others in his environment. In the chapter
on vanity we shall have occasion to show how maladapted
this method of education towards ambition is to the com-
munal life, and how the development of the mind can be
stunted by the difficulties which ambition places in its way.

Every medium is in a position similar to individuals
who are influenced by every turn of their environment as
a consequence of their unconditional obedience. Imagine
obeying every whim that anyone voices, for a short time!
Hypnosis is based upon a similar preparation. Anyone may
say, or believe, that he has the will to be hypnotized, but the
psychic readiness to submit may be wanting. A second in-
dividual may consciously resist, and still be innately de-
sirous to submit. In hypnosis the psychic attitude of the
medium alone determines his behavior. What he says, or
what he believes, is of no consequence. Confusion over this
fact has allowed much misinformation to grow up concern-
ing hypnosis. In hypnosis one is usually occupied with in-
dividuals who seem to be striving against the hypnosis,
but are essentially desirous of submitting to the demands of
the hypnotizer. This readiness may have various boundaries
so that the results of hypnosis differ in every individual.
In no case does the degree of readiness to be hypnotized de-
pend upon the will of the hypnotizer. It is conditioned en-
tirely by the psychic attitude of the medium.

In its essence, hypnosis somewhat resembles sleep. It js
mysterious only because this sleep may be produced at
the command of another. The command is effective solely
when it is given to someone who is willing to submit to
it. The determining factors are, as usual, the nature and

66 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

character of the medium or subject. Only that man who
is willing to accede to the demands of another without the
exercise of his critical faculties, is capable of producing a
hypnotic sleep; the hypnosis is more than an ordinary
sleep in that it excludes the faculty of movement to such
a degree that even the motor centers are mobilized at the
command of the hypnotizer. A certain twilight slumber
is all that is left of normal sleep in this state, in which the
subject can remember only those things which the hypno-
tizer allows him to remember. The most important fact in
hypnosis is that our critical faculties, those finest products
of the soul, are completely paralyzed during the hypnotic
trance. The hypnotized subject becomes, so to speak, the
elongated hand of the hypnotizer, an organ functioning
at his command.

Most people who have the power of influencing the be-
havior of others ascribe this faculty to some mysterious
power which is peculiar to them. This leads to an enormous
amount of mischief, especially in the pernicious activities
of the telepaths and hypnotizers. These gentlemen commit
such arrant crimes against mankind that they are quite
capable of utilizing any instrument appropriate to their ne-
farious purposes. This does not say that all the manifesta-
tions which they produce are based upon a swindle. The
human animal, unfortunately, is capable of such submission
that it falls victim to anyone who poses as the possessor of
special powers. Only too many human beings have ac-
quired the habit of recognizing an authority without test-
ing it. The public wants to be fooled. It wants to swallow
every bluff without subjecting it to rational examination.
Such activity will never bring any order into the communal
life of mankind but will lead only, again and again, to
the revolt of those who have been imposed upon. No tele-
path nor hypnotizer has had luck with his experiments

for any great length of time. Very frequently they have
come in contact with someone, some so-called medium, who
has fooled them for all he was worth. This has sometimes
been the experience of important scientists who have at-
tempted to show their powers on mediums.

There are other cases in which there is a curious admix-
ture of truth and falsehood : the medium is, so to speak, a
deceived deceiver, one who fools the hypnotizer in part, but
also subordinates himself to his will. The power which ap-
parently is at work here is never the power of the hypno-
tizer, but always the readiness of the medium to subordi-
nate himself and submit. There is no magic power which
influences the medium unless it be the ability of the hyp-
notizer to bluff. Any man who is accustomed to living ra-
tionally, who makes his own decisions, who does not swal-
low anyone 's word uncritically, is naturally not to be hyp-
notized, and will, therefore, never be able to show any
telepathic powers. Hypnosis and telepathy are only the
manifestations of servile obedience.

At this point we must also consider suggestion. Sugges-
tion can be best understood when one includes it in the
category of impressions and stimuli. It is self-understood
that no human being is stimulated only occasionally. All
of us are constantly under the influence of innumerable im-
pressions arising in the outer world. The mere perception
of a stimulus never occurs. Once an impression is felt, it
continues to exercise its effect. When these impressions take
the form of the demands and the entreaties of another hu-
man being, his attempts at conviction or his arguments, we
speak of suggestion. It is a case either of the transforma-
tion, or of the reinforcement, of a point of view which is al-
ready present in the person to whom the suggestions are
made. The more difficult problem really begins with the
fact that every human being reacts variously to stimuli

68 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

coming from the external world. The degree to which he
can be influenced is intimately connected with his inde-
pendence. There are two types of human beings which we
must bear in mind. One type always overvalues the other
fellow 's opinion and therefore values its own opinions only
lightly, whether they are right or wrong. They are given to
over-rating the importance of others, and to adapting them-
selves gladly to their opinions. These individuals are ex-
ceptionally susceptible to suggestion, or hypnosis. A second
type considers every stimulus or suggestion as an insult.
Here are the individuals who consider that only their own
opinion is right, and are really not concerned as to its ac-
tual correctness, or incorrectness. They disregard anything
originating in another human being. Both types carry with
them a sense of weakness. The second type expresses this
weakness by not being able to receive anything from an-
other human being. Members of this category are usually
very belligerent persons, although they may pride them-
selves upon being open to suggestions. They talk about this
openness and reasonableness, however, only in order to re-
inforce their isolated position. Actually they cannot be ap-
proached, and it is very difficult to do anything with them.

CHAPTER V

THE FEEXiING OF INFERIORITY AND THE STRIVING FOB
RECOGNITION

I. The Situation in Early Childhood

We are now certainly prepared to recognize the fact that
children who have been treated as step-children by Nature
have an entirely different attitude toward life and toward
their fellow human beings than those to whom the joys of
existence were vouchsafed at an early age. One can state
as a fundamental law that children who come into the
world with organ inferiorities become involved at an early
age in a bitter struggle for existence which results only
too often in the strangulation of their social feelings.
Instead of interesting themselves in an adjustment to
their fellows, they are continually preoccupied with them-
selves, and with the impression which they make on others.
What holds good for an organic inferiority is as valid
for any social or economic burden which might manifest
itself as an additional load, capable of producing a hostile
attitude toward the world. The deciding trend becomes
determined at an early age. Such children frequently have
a sentiment as early as their second year of life, that they
are somehow not as adequately equipped for the struggle
as their playmates; they sense that they dare not trust
themselves to the common games and pastimes. As a re-
sult of past privations they have acquired a feeling of be-
ing neglected, which is expressed in their attitude of
anxious expectation. One must remember that every child

70 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

occupies an inferior position in life ; were it not for a cer-
tain quantum of social feeling on the part of his family-
he would be incapable of independent existence. One rea-
lizes that the beginning of every life is fraught with a
more or less deep feeling of inferiority when one sees
the weakness and helplessness of every child. Sooner or
later every child becomes conscious of his inability to cope
single-handed with the challenges of existence. This feel-
ing of inferiority is the driving force, the starting point
from which every childish striving originates. It deter-
mines how this individual child acquires peace and secur-
ity in life, it determines the very goal of his existence, and
prepares the path along which this goal may be reached.

The basis of a child's educability lies in this peculiar
situation which is so closely bound up with his organic
potentialities. Educability may be shattered by two fac-
tors. One of these factors is an exaggerated, intensified,
unresolved feeling of inferiority, and the other is a goal
which demands not only security and peace and social equi-
librium, but a striving to express power over the environ-
ment, a goal of dominance over one's fellows. Children
who have such a goal are always easily recognized. They
become *' problem" children because they interpret every
experience as a defeat, and because they consider them-
selves always neglected and discriminated against both
by nature and by man. One need but consider all these fac-
tors to see with what compulsive necessity a crooked, in-
adequate, error-ridden development may occur in the
life of a child. Every child runs the danger of a mistaken
development. Every child finds itself in a situation which
is precarious, at some time or another.

Since every child must grow up in an environment of
adults he is predisposed to consider himself weak, small,
incapable of living alone; he does not trust himself to do

FEELING OF INFERIORITY

those simple tasks that one thinks him capable of doing,
without mistakes, errors, or clumsinesses. Most of our er-
rors in education begin at this point. In demanding more
than the child can do, the idea of his own helplessness is
thrown into his face. Some children are even consciously
made to feel their smallness and helplessness. Other chil-
dren are regarded as toys, as animated dolls ; others, again,
are treated as valuable property that must be carefully
watched, while others still are made to feel they are so
much useless human freight. A combination of these at-
titudes on the part of the parents and adults often leads
a child to believe that there are but two things in his
power, the pleasure or displeasure of his elders. The type
of inferiority feeling produced by the parents may be
further intensified by certain peculiar characteristics of
our civilization. The habit of not taking children seriously
belongs in this category. A child gets the impression that
he is a nobody, without rights; that he is to be seen, not
heard, that he must be courteous, quiet, and the like.

Numerous children grow up in the constant dread of
being laughed at. Ridicule of children is well-nigh crimi-
nal. It retains its eifect upon the soul of the child, and is
transferred into the habits and actions of his adulthood.
An adult who was continually laughed at as a child may
be easily recognized; he cannot rid himself of the fear of
being made ridiculous again. Another aspect of this matter
of not taking children seriously is the custom of telling chil-
dren palpable lies, with the result that the child begins to
doubt not only his immediate environment but also to ques-
tion the seriousness and reality of life.

Cases have been recorded of children who laughed con-
tinually at school, seemingly without reason, who when
questioned, admitted that they thought school was one
of their parents* jokes and not worth taking seriously!

•72 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

II. Compensating for the Feeling of Inferiority ;
THE Striving for Recognition and Superiority

It is the feeling of inferiority, inadequacy, insecurity,
wliicli determines the goal of an individuars existence.
The tendency to push into the limelight, to compel the
attention of parents, makes itself felt in the first days of
life. Here are found the first indications of the awaken-
ing desire for recognition developing itself under the
concomitant influence of the sense of inferiority, with its
purpose the attainment of a goal in which the individual
is seemingly superior to his environment.

The degree and quality of the social feeling helps to
determine the goal of dominance. We cannot judge any
individual, whether it is a child or adult, without draw-
ing a comparison between his goal of personal dominance
and the quantum of his social feeling. His goal is so con-
structed that its achievement promises the possibility either
of a sentiment of superiority, or an elevation of the person-
ality to such a degree that life seems worth living. It is this
goal which gives value to our sensations, which links and
co-ordinates our sentiments, which shapes our imagination
and directs our creative powers, determines what we shall
remember and what we must forget. We can realize how
relative are the values of sensations, sentiments, affects,
and imagination, when not even these are absolute quanti-
ties; these elements of our psychic activity are influenced
by the striving for a definite goal, our very perceptions are
prejudiced by it, and are chosen, so to speak, with a secret
hint at the final goal toward which the personality is striv-
ing.

We orient ourselves according to a fixed point which
we have artificially created, which does not in reality
exist, a fiction. This assumption is necessary because of

THE FEELING OF INFERIORITY 73

the inadequacy of our psychic life. It is very similar to
other fictions which are used in other sciences, such as the
division of the earth by non-existent, but highly useful
meridians. In the case of all psychic fictions we have to
do with the following: we assume a fixed point even
though closer observation forces us to admit that it does
not exist. The purpose of this assumption is simply to
orient ourselves in the chaos of existence, so that we can
arrive at some apperception of relative values. The ad-
vantage is that we can categorize every sensation and
every sentiment according to this fixed point, once we
have assumed it.

Individual Psychology, therefore, creates for itself a
heuristic system and method: to regard human behavior
and understand it as though a final constellation of rela-
tionships were produced under the influence of the striv-
ing for a definite goal upon the basic inherited potential-
ities of the organism. Our experience, however, has shown
us that the assumption of a striving for a goal is more
than simply a convenient fiction. It has shown itself to be
largely coincident with the actual facts in its fundamen-
tals, whether these facts are to be found in the conscious
or unconscious life. The striving for a goal, the purposive-
ness of the psychic life is not only a philosophic assump-
tion, but actually a fundamental fact.

When we question how we can most advantageously op-
pose the development of the striving for power, this most
prominent evil of our civilization, we are faced with a dif-
ficulty, for this striving begins when the child cannot be
easily approached. One can begin to make attempts at im-
provement and clarification only much later in life. But
living with the child at this time does offer an opportunity
to so develop his social feeling that the striving for per-
sonal power becomes a negligible factor.

74 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

A further difficulty lies in the fact that children do
not express their striving for power openly, but hide it
under the guise of charity and tenderness, and carry out
their work behind a veil. Modestly, they expect to escape
disclosure in this way. An uninhibited striving for power
is capable of producing degenerations in the psychic de-
velopment of the child, an exaggerated drive for security
and might, may change courage to impudence, obedience
into cowardice, tenderness into a subtle treachery for dom-
inating the world. Every natural feeling or expression fi-
nally carries with it a hypocritical afterthought whose final
purpose is the subjugation of the environment.

Education affects the child by virtue of its conscious
or unconscious desire to compensate him for his insecur-
ity, by schooling him in the technique of life, by giving
him an educated understanding, and by furnishing him
with a social feeling for his fellows. All these measures,
whatever their source, are means to help the growing child
rid himself of his insecurity and his feeling of inferiority.
What happens in the soul of the child during this process
we must judge by the character traits he develops since
these are the mirror of the activity in his soul. The actual
inferiority of a child, important as it is for his psychic
economy, is no criterion of the weight of his feeling of in-
security and inferiority, since these depend largely upon
his interpretation of them.

One cannot expect a child to have a correct estimation
of himself in any particular situation ; one does not expect
it of adults! It is precisely here that difficulties grow
apace. One child will grow up in a situation so complicated
that errors concerning the degree of his inferiority are
absolutely unavoidable. Another child will be able better
to interpret his situation. But taken by and large the in-
terpretation which the child has of his feeling of info-

THE FEELING OF INFERIORITY 75

riority varies from day to day until it becomes consoli-
dated, finally, and is expressed as a definite self -estimation ;
this becomes a ''constant'^ of self -evaluation which the
child retains, in all his conduct. According to this crystal-
lized norm or ** constant of self -estimation " the compensa-
tion trends which the child creates to guide him out of
his inferiority will be directed toward this, or the other,
goal.

The mechanism of the striving for compensation with
which the soul attempts to neutralize the tortured feeling
of inferiority has its analogy in the organic world. It is
a well known fact that those organs of our body which
are essential for life, produce an overgrowth, and over-
function when their productivity is lessened through dam-
age to their normal state. Thus in difficulties of circula-
tion, the heart, seeming to draw its new strength from the
whole body, may enlarge until it is more powerful than a
normal heart. Similarly, the soul, under pressure of the
feeling of inferiority, or the torturing thought that the
individual is small and helpless, attempts with all its
might to become master over this *' inferiority complex.''

When the feeling of inferiority is intensified to the
degree that the child fears he will never be able to com-
pensate for his weakness, the danger arises that in his
striving for compensation he will be satisfied not with a
simple restoration of the balance of power ; he will demand
an over-compensation, will seek an overbalance of the
scales !

The striving for power and dominance may become so
exaggerated and intensified that it must be called patho-
logical. When this occurs the ordinary relationships of
life will never be satisfactory. The movements in these
cases are apt to have a certain grandiose gesture about
them. They are well adapted to their goal. Where we are

76 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

dealing with a pathological power-drive we find individuals
who seek to secure their position in life with extraordinary
efforts, with greater haste and impatience, with more vio-
lent impulses, and without consideration of any one else.
These are the children whose actions become more notice-
able because of their exaggerated movements towards their
exaggerated goal of dominance; their attacks on the lives
of others necessitate that they defend their own lives.
They are against the world, and the world is against
them.

This need not necessarily occur in the worst sense of the
word. There are children who express the striving of
power in a manner not calculated to bring them into im-
mediate conflict with society, and their ambition may be
considered as no abnormal characteristic. Yet when we
carefully investigate their activity and achievements we
find that society at large does not benefit from their
triumphs, because their ambition is an asocial one. Their
ambition will always put them in the path of other human
beings as disturbing elements. Little by little, too, other
characteristics will appear which, if we consider total
human relationships, will assume an increasingly anti-
social color.

In the forefront of these manifestations are pride, vanity,
and the desire to conquer everyone at any price. The
latter may be subtly accomplished by the relative eleva-
tion of the individual, by his deprecation of all those with
whom he comes in contact. In the latter case the important
thing is the ** distance" which separates him from his fel-
lows. His attitude is not only uncomfortable for the en-
vironment, but for the individual who practises it, because
it continually brings him into contact with the dark side of
life and prevents him from experiencing any joy in living.

The exaggerated drive for power with which some chil-

THE FEELING OF INFERIORITY 77

dren wish to assure their prestige over their environment,
soon forces them into an attitude of resistance against the
ordinary tasks and duties of everyday life. Compare such
a power-hungry individual with the ideal social being,
and one can, after some little experience, specify, so to
speak, his social index, that is, the degree to which he has
removed himself from his fellow-man. A keen judge of
human nature, keeping his eyes open to the value of physi-
cal defects and inferiorities, knows nevertheless that such
character traits were impossible without antecedent dif-
ficulties in the evolution of his soul.

When we have gained a true knowledge of human nature,
built upon a recognition of the value of the difficulties
which may occur in the proper development of the soul, it
can never be an instrument of harm so long as we have our-
selves thoroughly developed our social feeling. We can but
help our fellow-men with it. We must not blame the bearer
of a physical defect, nor a disagreeable character trait, for
his indignation. He is not responsible for it. We must in-
deed admit his right to be indignant to the last limits, and
we must be conscious that we bear a part of the common
blame for his situation. The blame belongs to us because we
too have taken part in the inadequate precautions against
the social misery which has produced it. If we stick to this
standpoint we can eventually ameliorate the situation.

We approach such an individual not as a degraded,
worthless outcast, but as a fellow human being; we give
him an atmosphere in which he will find that there are pos-
sibilities for feeling himself the equal of every other hu-
man being in his environment. Think how unpleasant the
sight of an individuars appearance, whose organ or bodily
inferiorities are externally visible, may be to you! It is a
good index of the amount of education you yourself need
in order to come to an absolutely just sense of social values,

78 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

and put yourself into complete harmony with the truth of
the social feeling. And we can judge then, too, how much
our civilization owes to such an individual.

It is self -understood that those who come into the world
with organ inferiorities feel an added burden of existence
from their earliest days, and, as a result, find themselves
pessimistic as regards the whole matter of existence. Chil-
dren in whom the feeling of inferiority has become in-
tensified through some cause or other, although their
organ inferiorities are not nearly so noticeable, find
themselves in a similar situation. The feeling of inferiority
may be so intensified artificially that the result is ex-
actly the same as though the child came into the world
greatly crippled. A very severe education during the
critical period, for instance, may effect such an unfor-
tunate result. The thorn which has been stuck into their
side in the early days of their existence is never removed,
and the coldness which they have experienced prevents
them from approaching other human beings in their en-
vironment. They believe themselves thus in a world devoid
of love and affection, with which they have no common
point of contact.

An example : A patient, noticeable because he is contin-
ually telling us about his great sense of duty, and the im-
portance of all his actions, lives with his wife in the worst
possible relationship. Here are two individuals who meas-
ure the value of any event as a means toward the subju-
gation of their mate, to the thickness of a hair. Wrangling,
reproaches, insults, in the course of which the two be-
come entirely estranged from one another, are the in-
evitable result. What little social feeling for his fellow
men the husband retains, at least so far as his wife and
friends are concerned, is choked by his thirst for superi-
ority.

THE FEELING OF INFERIORITY 79

We learn the following facts from the story of his life : —
he was practically undeveloped physically until his seven-
teenth year. His voice was the voice of a young boy, he
had no body or face hair, and he was among the smallest
boys in his school. Today he is thirty-six. Nothing which
is not entirely masculine is noticeable about his outer ap-
pearance, and Nature seemingly has caught up with her-
self and completed everything which she had hardly begun
to fashion when he was seventeen. But for eight years he
suffered from this failure of development, and at that time
he had no guarantee that Nature would ever compensate
for his anomalies. During this entire period he was tor-
tured with the thought that he must always remain a
** child. '^

At that early age the beginnings of his present character
traits could be noted. He acted as though he were very
important, and as if his every action had the utmost
weight. Every movement served the purpose of bringing
him into the center of attention. In the course of time he
acquired those characteristics which we see in him today.
After he married he was continually occupied with im-
pressing his wife with the fact that he was really bigger
and more important than she thought, while she was con-
tinually busied with showing him that his assertions con-
cerning his value were untrue ! Under these circumstances
their marriage, which showed signs of disruption even dur-
ing their engagement, could hardly develop favorably,
and ended finally in a social cataclysm. The patient came
to the physician at this time — since the break-up of his
%marriage served only to accentuate the dilapidation of
his already battered self-esteem. To be cured, he had to
learn first from the physician how to know human nature,
he had to learn how to appreciate the error he had made
in life. And this error, this wrong evaluation of his infe-

80 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

riority, had colored his entire life up to the time of his
treatment.

III. The Graph of Life and the Cosmic Picture

When we demonstrate cases like these it is frequently
convenient to show relationships between the childhood
impressions and the actual complaint, as presented by the
patient; this is best done by a graph, similar to a mathe-
matical formula. A line connecting two points represents
such an equation. We will succeed in many cases in being
able to plot this graph of life, the spiritual curve along
which the entire movement of an individual has taken
place. The equation of the curve is the behavior pattern
which this individual has followed since earliest childhood.
Perhaps there will be some readers who have the impres-
sion that we are attempting to belittle human fate by
over-simplifying it, or that we have a tendency to deny
that every human being is the master of his life, and that
we are denying free will and judgment. So far as free will
is concerned this accusation is true. Actually we see this
behavior pattern, whose final configuration is subject to
some few changes, but whose essential content, whose en-
ergy and meaning, remain unchanged from earliest child-
hood, is the determining factor, even though the relations
to the adult environment which follow the childhood situ-
ation may tend to modify it in some instances. In our ex-
amination we must ferret out the history of the earliest
childhood days, because the impressions of early infancy
indicate the direction in which a child has developed, as
well as the direction in which he will respond in the future
to the challenge of existence. In his response to the chal-
lenge of existence a child will utilize all the developed
mental possibilities he has brought with him into life ; the

THE FEELING OF INFERIORITY 81

particular pressure he has felt in the days of earliest in-
fancy will color his attitude toward life and determine in
a primitive fashion his world-view, his cosmic philosophy.

It should not surprise us to learn that people do not
change their attitude toward life after their infancy,
though its expressions in later life are quite different from
those of their earliest days. It is important therefore to
put an infant into relationships in which it will be dif-
ficult for him to assume a false concept of life. The strength
and resistance of his body is an important factor in this
process. H,is social position, and the characteristics of those
who educate him, are almost equally important. Even
though the response to life is automatic and reflex in the
beginning, type reactions become modified according to a
certain purposiveness, in later life. In the beginning the
factors of personal necessity condition his pain and his
happiness, but later he acquires the ability to evade and
circumvent the pressure of these primitive needs. This
phenomenon occurs in the time of self discovery, approxi-
mately during the time that a child begins to speak of
himself as *'!.*' It is during this time also that the child
is already conscious that he stands in a fixed relationship
to his environment. This relationship is by no means neu-
tral, since it forces the child to assume a different attitude
and to adjust his relationships according to the demands
which his world-view, and his conception of happiness and
completeness, give him.

If we reaffirm what has been said concerning the tele-
ology of the psychic Life of mankind it will become in-
creasingly clear to us that an indestructible unity must
be a special token of this behavior pattern. The necessity
for treating with a human being only as unit personality
becomes increasingly clear in those cases where seemingly
contrasting expressions of psychic trends are to be found.

82 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

There are children whose behavior at school and at home
are diametrically opposite to one another, just as there
are adults whose character traits appear so contradictory
that we are deceived concerning their true character. In
the same way the movements and expressions of two human
beings may be outwardly identical, yet when examined
for their underlying behavior patterns, prove themselves
to be entirely different. When two individuals seem to be
doing the same thing, each one is really doing something
distinct and different, yet when two individuals are do-
ing seemingly different things they may actually be do-
ing the same thing!

Because of this possibility of many meanings we can
never judge the expressions of the psychic life as single
isolated phenomena; on the contrary, we must evaluate
them according to the unit goal toward which they are
directed. The essential meaning can be learned only when
we know what value a phenomenon has in the entire con-
text of a person's life. "We can have an understanding of
his psychic life only when we have reaffirmed the law that
every expression of a man's life is an aspect of his unit
behavior pattern.

When we have jSnally comprehended that all human
behavior is based upon the striving for a goal, that it is
conditioned by its end as well as by its beginning, then we
can comprehend also wherein lies the possibility of the
greatest mistakes. The source of these errors lies in the
fact that every one of us utilizes his triumphs and psychic
assets according to his particular pattern, and in the
sense of a reinforcement of his individual life pattern.
This is possible only because we do not test anything, but
receive, transform, and assimilate all perceptions in the
shadow of our own conscious, or the depths of our uncon-
scious. Science alone can illuminate the process and make

THE FEELING OF INFERIORITY 83

it comprehensible; science alone is finally able to modify
it. We shall conclude our exposition at this point with an
example in which we will analyze and explain every phe-
nomenon by those Individual Psychological concepts which
we have already learned.

A young woman comes as a patient and complains of
her unconquerable dissatisfaction with life, which arises,
as she believes, in the fact that her whole day is taken up
with a great number of duties of all kinds. Externally we
can see in her a hasty being, with restless eyes, who com-
plains of the great unrest which seizes her whenever she
must do some simple duty. From her family and friends
we learn that she takes everything seriously and seems to
be breaking under the burden of her work. The general
impression that we get is that of a person who takes every-
thing very seriously, a characteristic which is common
to many people. One member of her family gives us the
clue in saying, **She is always making a big fuss over
everything ! ' '

Let us test this tendency to consider every simple task
a particularly hard and important one, by attempting to
imagine what kind of an impression this behavior would
make upon a group of people, or in the marriage relation-
ship. We cannot help feeling that such a tendency simulates
an appeal to the environment not to force any further
work upon her since she can no longer do the most ele-
mentary tasks.

Our knowledge of this woman's personality is not yet
adequate. We must stimulate her to further expressions of
herself. One must proceed by innuendo and with the proper
delicacy in such examinations. There must be no attempt
to dominate the patient as this would only serve to make
her belligerent. Once her confidence is won and the pos-
sibility of conversation is given, we come to the conclusion

84 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

that her whole being is concerned with but a single goal.
Her behavior shows that she is attempting to demonstrate
to someone, probably her husband, that she cannot bear any
further obligations or responsibilities, that she must be
treated carefully and with tenderness. "We can further sus-
pect and imagine that all this must have begun definitely
at some time in the past, and that such demands must have
been made of her. "We succeed in stimulating her to the
affirmation that many years ago she had to live through a
period in which nothing was more wanting than tenderness.
Now we can understand her behavior better; it is a rein-
forcement of her desire for consideration, and an attempt
to prevent the recurrence of a situation in which her hun-
ger for warmth and affection might somehow remain un-
satisfied.

Our findings are clinched by a further explanation on
her part. She tells of a friend who is in many ways her
opposite, who is living in an unhappy marriage from which
she desires to escape. Once she met her friend at a mo-
ment when she was standing, book in hand, telling her
husband in a bored voice that she really did not know
whether she would be able to prepare dinner that day.
This irritated her husband so that he criticized her whole
personality in harsh terms. To this occurrence our patient
added; *'When I think of this occurrence I think that
my method is much better. No one can reproach me in
this way because I am overburdened with work from
morning until night. If a luncheon is not prepared on time
at my house no one can say anything to me because my
time is full of haste and constant excitement. Should I
give up this method now?"

One can understand what is going on in this soul. In
a relatively innocuous way she attempts to attain a certain
superiority, but remain at the same time beyond every re-

THE FEELING OF INFERIORITY 85

proach by pleading constantly for tender treatment. Since
this mechanism is successful it seems hardly reasonable
to ask her to forego it, but there is more to her behavior
than just this. Her appeal for tenderness (which at the
same time is an attempt to dominate others) can never be
made drastic enough. Contradictions of all kinds occur
in this connection. Should anything be lost in the house
there is a consequent **much ado about nothing'^; subse-
quently she has so much business that she is constantly
suffering from headaches, and she can never sleep quietly
because she is under the necessity of putting her activities
^ the right light. An invitation which she may get is in it-
self an important occasion. Enormous preparations are
necessary for its acceptance. Since the least activity ap-
pears to her inordinately large, paying a call is a difficult
labor which demands hours and days to complete. We can
predict with some certainty that she will either send her
regrets or, at the very least, come late. The social feeling
in the life of such a person can never go beyond certain
limits.

In married life there are a number of relationships
which assume a peculiar significance through this appeal
for tenderness. It is conceivable for instance that a hus-
band must be absent because of his business, or that he
must make visits by himself, or that he must appear at
meetings of societies to which he belongs. If he left his wife
at home at these times would this not be a breach of tender-
ness and consideration? At first we might say, and very
often this is the case, marriage justifies keeping a husband
at home as much as possible. Pleasant as this obligation
might seem in part, in actuality it signifies insupportable
difficulties for any man who has a profess,ion. Dis-harmony
would appear unavoidable in such cases and it occurred
quickly in this one. The husband attempted occasionally

86 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

to come to his bed late at night without disturbing his
wife only to be surprised to find her still awake, greeting
him with reproachful glances.

We need not picture here all the well known situations
of this kind. Nor should we overlook the fact that it is not
alone the petty vices of women which we are discussing,
for there are as many men whose attitude is similar. We
are simply concerned with showing that the demand for
especial consideration may occasionally take a different
course. In our case the following procedure would occur:
If on some occasion the husband has to spend an even-
ing out, his wife tells him that since he goes into society
so seldom, he should not come home too early. Although
she says this in a jocular tone her words have very serious
meaning. It seems to negate the previous impression but
when we observe more closely we can see the connection.
The wife is clever enough not to act too strictly. Outwardly
she is utterly charming. There is no blemish upon her char-
acter, and she interests us only in a psychological way. The
real significance of her words to her husband lies in the
fact that it is the wife who has given an ultimatum. Now
since she has permitted it, he may stay out late whereas she
would be dreadfully hurt and slighted if he had remained
away for reasons of his own. Her words drape a veil over
the whole situation. She has become the directing partner ;
and her husband, even though he is only fulfilling his social
obligations, is made dependent upon the wish and will of
his wife.

Now let us connect this hunger for particular tender-
ness with our newly won concept that this woman can
bear a situation only when she herself commands. We sud-
denly become aware that throughout her whole life she has
been actuated by an impulse never to play the second fid-

THE FEELING OF INFERIORITY 87

die, always to maintain her dominancy, never to be thrust
from her secure position by any reproach, and always to
remain in the center of her little environment. We will
find this movement in every situation in which we find
her ; for instance, when she has to get a new maid, she be-
comes highly excited. Clearly she is concerned to know
whether she will be able to maintain the same dominance
over the new servant that she was able to hold over the
old. In like manner, when she is about to leave the house
for a walk, she leaves a sphere where her dominance is un-
conditionally secure, and goes out into the world, on the
street where suddenly nothing is under the shadow of her
dominance, where she has to dodge every automobile, in-
deed where she plays a very subordinate role. The cause
and meaning of her tension becomes perfectly clear when
one can understand what tyranny she exercises at home.

These characteristics may often appear in such a pleas-
ant pattern that at the first glance one would never think
that the person was suffering. On the other hand this suffer-
ing can reach a very high degree. Just imagine this ten-
sion exaggerated and enlarged. There are human beings
who are afraid of using a street car because in a street car
they are not the masters of their own will and this may go
so far that they finally do not leave their homes at all.

A further development in our case is an instructive
example of the influence which childhood impressions ex-
ercise in the life of an individual. We cannot deny the
fact that this woman, from her standpoint, is perfectly
right; if one's attitude, and one's whole life are directed
with unheard of intensity toward the acquisition of
warmth, respect, honor, and tenderness, then to act as
though one were constantly overloaded and constantly ex-
hausted is not a bad means to this end. No other way will

88 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

always serve to keep off criticism, and simultaneously force
the environment to be gentle, and avoid everything likely
to disturb a wavering psychic equilibrium.

If we go back a considerable period in the life of our
patient we learn that even in school, whenever she could
not do her homework, she became extraordinarily excited
and forced her teacher in this way to be very gentle with
her. To this she adds, she was the oldest of three children
and was followed by a boy and then by a sister. She was
constantly at war with her brother. He always appeared
as the preferred one. She angered herself especially be-
cause people paid more attention to his school work,
whereas her work, (and she had originally been a good
pupil,) was met with a certain indifference as to her ac-
complishments. Finally she could hardly bear it any longer
and was forever nagging to know why her accomplish-
ments were not judged of equal value.

Thus we can understand that this young girl was striving
for equality, and that from earliest childhood she had
had a feeling of inferiority which she was attempting to
overcome. Her compensation in school was made in such a
manner that she became a bad pupil. She attempted to
outdo her brother by means of bad school reports! These
are no high ethics, but in her childish interpretation she
acted rationally, for the attention of her parents would be
more often directed to her in this way. Some of her tricks
must have been conscious because she declared quite clearly
that she wanted to be a bad pupil !

Her parents, however, did not trouble themselves in the
least about her failures in school. And now something in-
teresting happened. She suddenly showed marked success in
her studies, for now her younger sister entered upon the
scene in a new role ! This younger sister also had failed in
school but her mother troubled herself almost as much about

THE FEELING OF INFERIORITY 89

her failure as she had about the brother, and for the pecu-
liar reason that whereas our patient had had bad reports
only in her studies her sister got bad reports in conduct and
behavior. She was thus able to gain her mother's attention
more easily since bad reports in conduct have an entirely
different social effect than merely bad reports in studies.
They were bound up with peculiar emergencies that forced
the parents to occupy themselves more with their child.

The battle for equality was temporarily lost. Now the
loss of a battle for equality never leads to a permanent
peace. No human being can bear such a situation. Hence
we shall constantly jSnd new tendencies and activities con-
tributing toward the formation of her character. We can
now understand the meaning of her great to-do, her con-
stant haste, her desire to show herself under pressure, some-
what better. It was meant originally for her mother and was
intended to compel her parents' attention to her as well
as to her brother and sister; at the same time it was a
reproach to her parents that they treated her worse than
the others. The fundamental attitude created at that time
has remained until today.

We can go back even farther in her life. She remembers
as a particularly vivid occurrence of her childhood, that
she wanted to hit her brother who had just been born, with
a piece of wood, and that only the care of her mother had
prevented her from doing great damage. At this time she
was three years old. This little girl had discovered (even at
that time) the cause for her neglect and lesser evaluation
was that she was only a girl. She remembers quite vividly
that the wish to be a boy was expressed countless times.
The arrival of her brother not only forced her out of the
warmth of her nest but she was particularly insulted be-
cause as a boy he was treated much better than she had
ever been. In her striving to compensate for this defect she

90 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

happened upon the method of appearing always overloaded
with work.

Let us interpret a dream now to show how deeply this
behavior pattern is anchored in the soul. This woman
dreamt that she was at home conversing with her hus-
band, but her husband did not look like a man but ap-
peared as a woman. This detail is symbolic of the pattern
with which she approaches all her experiences and all her
relationships. The dream means that she has found equality
with her husband. He is no longer the dominant male as
her brother once was, he is already like a woman. There is
no difference in elevation between them. In her dream she
has achieved that which she has always wished since her
childhood.

In this way we have succeeded in joining two points in
the soul life of a human being. We have discovered her style
of life, her life curve, her behavior pattern, and from
this we can acquire a unified picture which we might sum
up as follows: we are dealing here with a human being
who strives to play the dominant role by amiable means.

CHAPTER VI

THE PREPARATION FOR LIFE

One of the fundamental tenets of Individual Psychology
is that all the psychic phenomena can be considered as
preparations for a definite goal. In the configuration of the
soul life which we have previously described we can see
a constant preparation for the future in which the wishes
of the individual appear fulfilled. This is a general human
experience and all of us must go through this process. All
the myths, legends and sagas which speak of an ideal future
state concern themselves with it. The convictions of all peo-
ples that there was once a paradise, and the further echo
of this process in the desire of humanity for a future in
which all difficulties have been overcome, may be found in
all religions. The dogma of the immortality of the soul, or
its re-incarnation, is a definite evidence of the belief that
the soul can arrive at a new configuration. Every fairy tale
is a witness of the fact that the hope of a happy future
has never failed in mankind.

I. Play

There is in the child life an important phenomenon
which shows very clearly the process of preparation for
the future. It is play. Games are not to be considered
as haphazard ideas of parents or educators, but they are
to be considered as educational aids and as stimuli for
the spirit, for the fantasy, and for the life-technique of
91

92 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

the child. The preparation for the future can be seen in
every game. The manner in which a child approaches a
game, his choice, and the importance which he places upon
it, indicate his attitude and relationship to his environment
and how he is related to his fellow men. Whether he is
hostile or whether he is friendly, and particularly whether
he has the tendency to be a ruler, is evident in his play;
and in observing a child in his play we can see his whole
attitude toward life. Play is of utmost importance to every
child. The discovery of these facts which teach us that the
play of children is to be considered as a preparation for
the future is due to Gross, a professor of pedagogy, who
discovered the same tendencies in the play of animals.

But we have not exhausted all the view points as to the
nature of play, with the concept of preparation. Above all
else games are communal exercises, they enable the child to
satisfy and fulfill his social feeling. Children who evade
games and play are always open to the suspicion that they
have made a bad adjustment to life. These children gladly
withdraw themselves from all games, or when they are put
on the playground with other children usually spoil the
pleasure of the others. Pride, deficient self-esteem and
the consequent fear of playing one's role badly are the
chief reasons for this behavior. In general by watching a
child at play we shall be able to determine with great
certainty the quantum of h;s social feeling.

The goal of superiority, another factor obvious in play,
betrays itself in the child's tendency to be the commander
and the ruler. We can discover this tendency by watching
how the child pushes himself forward and to what degree
he prefers those games which give him an opportunity to
satisfy his desire to play the leading role. There are very
few games which do not have at least one of these factors,

THE PREPARATION FOR LIFE 93

preparation for life, social feeling, or the striving for domi-
nation, incorporated in them.

There is, however, one other factor which is present
in play. It is the possibility that the child can express
himself in a game. The child is more or less placed upon his
own in play, and his performance is stimulated by his con-
nection with the other children. There are a number of
games which especially emphasize this creative bent. In the
preparation for a future profession those plays which
carry in themselves the possibility for the exercise of the
creative spirit of the child are especially important. In
the life histories of many people, it has happened that
they have made dresses for dolls in their childhood, and
later made dresses for adults.

Play is indivisibly connected with the soul. It is, so to
speak, a kind of profession, and must be considered as such.
Therefore, it is not an insignificant matter to disturb a
child in his play. Play should never be considered as a
method of killing time. In regard to the goal of preparing
for the future, every child has in him something of the
adult he will be at sometime. Thus in the appraisal of an
individual we can draw our conclusions more easily when
we have a knowledge of his ch,ildhood.

II. Attention and Distraction

Attention is one of the characteristics of the soul which
is in the very forefront of human accomplishments. When
we bring our sense organs to the consideration of some par-
ticular event outside or inside our person, we have a feeling
of particular tension, which does not spread over our entire
body, but is limited to a single sense organ, as for instance,
the eye. We have the feeling that something is being pre-

94 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

pared. In the ease of the eye the direction of the ocular
axis gives us this particular feeling of tension.

If attention calls forth a particular tension in, any part
of the soul or in our motor organism, then other tensions
are at the same time excluded. Thus as soon as we wish to
be attentive to any one thing we desire to exclude all other
disturbances. Attention, so far as the soul is concerned,
means an attitude of willingness to make a special bridge
between ourselves and a definite fact, a preparation for
offense, which grows out of our necessity, or out of an un-
usual situation which demands that our whole power be
directed toward a particular purpose.

Every human being, if we exclude sickness and feeble-
mindedness, possesses the ability to pay attention, but in-
attentive persons are frequently found. There are a num-
ber of reasons for this. In the first place, fatigue or sick-
ness are factors which influence the ability to pay atten-
tion. Further, there are other individuals whose deficient
attention is due to the fact that they do not want to pay
attention, because the object to which they should be at-
tentive does not fit into their behavior pattern; on the
other hand their attention immediately awakens when they
are considering some matter which is germane to their
style of life. A further reason for deficient attention is to
be found in the tendency toward opposition. Children are
very easily given to opposition, and it often happens that
such children answer **No" to every stimulus which is of-
fered them. It is necessary for their opposition to become
open. It is the duty of the educator and of educational tact
to reconcile such a child by relating the study which he
must learn to his behavior pattern, and making it germane
to his style of life.

Some see and hear and perceive every change. Some
approach life entirely with their eyes; others entirely with

THE PREPARATION FOR LIFE 96

their auditory apparatus. Some see nothing, take notice
of nothing, and are not to be interested in visual things.
We may find an individual inattentive when his situation
would warrant his utmost interest because his more sensi-
tive receptors are not stimulated.

The most important factor in the awakening of attention
is a really deep rooted interest in the world. Interest lies in
a much deeper psychic stratum than attention. If we have
interest, then it is self-understood that we should also
pay attention ; and where interest exists, an educator need
not concern himself with attention. It becomes a simple
instrument with which one conquers a field of knowledge
for a definite purpose. No one has ever developed without
making mistakes in the process. It follows that the atten-
tion is likewise involved when some such mistaken attitude
has become fixed in an individual, and it thus happens that
attention is directed toward things which are not important
in the preparation for life. When the interest is directed
towards one's own body, or towards one's own power, one
is attentive wherever these interests become involved, where-
ever there is something to be won, or wherever one 's power
is threatened. Attention can never be linked with something
extraneous so long as some new interest is not substituted
in place of the power interest. One can observe how chil-
dren become immediately attentive when their recognition
and significance are in question. Their attention on the
other hand is easily extinguished when they have the feel-
ing there is *' nothing in it" for them.

A defective attention actually means nothing more than
that a person prefers to withdraw from a situation, to which
he is supposed to pay attention. It is incorrect, therefore,
to say that someone cannot concentrate himself. It can eas-
ily be proved that he concentrates very well, but always
on something else. Lack of will power and lack of energy

96 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

are similar to the inability to concentrate. We usually find
an obdurate will and an indomitable energy expressed
in a different direction in these cases. Treatment is not
simple. It can be attempted solely by changing the entire
style of life of the individual. In every case we can be
sure that we are dealing with a defect only because another
goal is being pursued.

Not infrequently inattention becomes a permanent char-
acteristic. We often meet individuals who have been given
a definite task which they have declined to do, which they
have only partially accomplished, or have fully evaded,
with the result that they are always a burden to someone
else. Their constant inattention is a fixed character trait,
which appears as soon as they are under the necessity of do-
ing someth^ing which is demanded of them.

III. Criminal Negligence and Forgetpulness

We usually speak of criminal negligence when the safety
or health of an individual is threatened by neglect in the
application of necessary precaution. Criminal neglect is a
phenomenon which demonstrates the utmost degree of in-
attention. Such defective attention is based on a defective
interest for one's fellow men. One can determine whether
children think only of themselves, or whether they take
into consideration rights of others, by watching for traits
of negligence in their games. Such phenomena are definite
standards of the communal consciousness and the social
feeling of a human being. When the social feeling has been
insufficiently developed, one acquires sufficient interest for
his fellows only with the greatest difficulty, even under
threat of punishment; whereas in the presence of a well-
developed community consciousness, this interest is self-
evident.

THE PREPARATION FOR LIFE 97

Criminal neglect, therefore, amounts to a defective social
feeling, yet we must not be too intolerant lest we forget
to investigate why an individual does not possesses the in-
terest in his fellow-men which we might expect of him.

We can produce forgetfulness by setting limits to our
attention, just as we can arrange the loss of valuables.
Despite the presence of the possibility for greater tension —
that is, interest — this interest may be so dampened by dis-
pleasure, that a loss or memory lapse is initiated, or at
least facilitated thereby. Such is the case, for instance,
when children lose their school books. It is always easy to
prove that they have not yet become accustomed to their
school surroundings. Housewives who are constantly losing
or misplacing their keys are usually women who have never
become friendly with their profession as housewife. For-
getful people usually prefer not to revolt openly, yet a cer-
tain lack of interest in their tasks is betrayed by their for-
getfulness.

IV. The Unconscious

Our descriptions have often shown individuals who are
not conscious of the meaning of the phenomena of their
psychic life. Seldom will an attentive man be able to tell
you why he sees everything at once. Certain psychic facul-
ties are not to be sought in the realm of consciousness ; al-
though we can consciously force our attention to a certain
degree, the stimulus to that attention lies not in conscious-
ness, but in our interests, and these, again, lie for the most
part in the sphere of the unconscious. Taken in its largest
scope, this is at once an aspect and an important factor in
the soul life. We may seek and find the behavior pattern of
a man in the unconscious. In his conscious life we have
but a reflection, a negative, to deal with. A vain woman

^8 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

usually has no knowledge of her vanity in most of the
instances in which she exhibits it; quite to the contrary,
she will behave so that only her modesty will be apparent
to everyone. It is not necessary to know that one is vain
to be vain. Indeed for the purposes of this woman, it would
be quite futile for her to know that she is vain, since if she
knew she were vain, she could not continue to be vain. We
can acquire a certain dramatic security in not seeing any-
thing of our own vanity solely by directing our attention
to something extraneous or irrelevant. The whole process
takes place in the dark. Attempt to talk to a vain man about
his vanity and you will find it very difficult to achieve a
conversation on the subject. He may show a tendency to
evade the matter, to circumlocute, lest he be disturbed ; this
can but make us more certain of our opinion. He wants to
play his little game, and immediately assumes a defensive
attitude when some one inadvertently attempts to lift the
veil from his little trick.

Human beings may be differentiated into two types;
those who know more concerning their unconscious life
than the average, and those who know less ; that is, accord-
ing to the extent of their sphere of consciousness. In a great
many cases, we will find coincidently that an individual
of the second type concentrates upon a small sphere of
activity, whereas the individuals of the first type are con-
nected with a many-sided sphere, and have large interests
in men, things, events, and ideas. Those individuals who
feel themselves pushed to the wall will naturally satisfy
themselves with a small section of life, since they are for-
eign to life, and cannot see its problems with as much
clarity as those who are playing the game according to
the rules. They make bad team-mates. They will not be so
capable of understanding the finer things of life. Because

THE PREPARATION FOR LIFE 99

of their very limited interest in living, they perceive but an
insignificant segment of its problems for the reason that
they fear a broader view would be synonymous with a loss
of personal power. As to individual occurrences in life, we
can often discover that an individual knows nothing of his
capabilities of living, because he undervalues himself. We
will find also that he is not sufficiently oriented concerning
his short-comings; he will consider himself a good man,
whereas in reality, he does everything out of egoism; or
vice-versa, he will consider himself an egoist in in-
stances in which a closer analysis shows him to be a very
good person indeed. It really does not matter what you
think of yourself, or what other people think of you. The
important thing is the general attitude toward human
society, since this determines every wish and every interest
and every activity of each individual.

We are dealing again with two types of human beings.
In the first class are those who live a more conscious life,
who approach the problems of life without blinders on
their eyes, in an objective manner. The second class ap-
proaches life with a prejudiced attitude, and sees only a
small part of it. The behavior and speech of individuals
of this type are always directed in an unconscious manner.
Two human beings living with one another may find diffi-
culties in life because one of them is constantly in opposi-
tion. This is not an uncommon occurrence. It is perhaps
even less uncommon that both parties are in opposition.
Each party knows nothing about his opposition, believes
himself right, and give arguments to show that he is the
champion of peace and harmony. The facts nevertheless
belie his words. In actuality it is impossible for him to say
a single word without attacking his partner on the flank
with an opposing remark, albeit his attack is externally

100 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

unnoticeable. On closer inspection we find that he has
given himself up to a hostile and belligerent attitude
throughout his life.

Human beings develop powers in themselves which are
constantly at work, though they know nothing of them.
These faculties lie hidden in the unconscious, influence
their lives and occasionally lead to bitter consequences when
they are not discovered. Dostoyevsky described such a case
so beautifully in his novel ''The Idiot" that it has been the
marvel of psychologists ever since : during a social gather-
ing a lady cautions the duke who is the hero of the novel,
not to upset an expensive Chinese vase which stands near
him, in a taunting tone. The duke assures her that he will
take care, but a few minutes later the vase lies on the
ground, shattered into pieces. No one in the group saw a
mere accident in this occurrence; everyone felt it was a
very consequent action, quite in keeping with the whole
character of this man who felt himself insulted by the
lady's words.

In judging a human being we must not be guided
solely by his conscious actions and expressions. Often little
details in his thinking and behavior of which he is not
conscious will give us a better clue to his real nature.

People for instance who practice such unpleasant activi-
ties as nail-biting or nose-boring do not know that they
betray the fact that they are stubborn human beings in
doing so, since they do not understand the relationships
which have led them to these traits. Yet it is perfectly clear
to us that a child must have been scolded repeatedly because
of these habits ; if, then, he does not give them up, despite
the scoldings, he must be a stubborn human being! Were
we more expert in our observation, we would have to draw
very far reaching conclusions concerning any human being,

THE PREPARATION FOR LIFE 101

by watching for such insignificant details, in which his
whole being is mirrored.

These two following cases will show how important it is
to the psychic economy that events which are unconscious,
remain in the unconscious. The human soul has the capabil-
ity of directing the consciousness, that is, of making con-
scious that which is necessary from the standpoint of some
psychic movement, and vice-versa, to allow something to
remain in the unconscious or make it unconscious, whenever
this would seem advisable for the maintenance of the in-
dividual's behavior pattern.

The first case is that of a young man, a firstborn son,
who grew up with a younger sister ; his mother died when
he was ten years old, and from that time his father, who
was a very intelligent, well-meaning, ethical man, had to
be the educator. The father spent most of his efforts de-
veloping his son's ambition and spurring him on to greater
activity. The boy tried to be the leader in his classes,
developed himself extraordinarily well, and so far as his
ethical and scientific qualities were concerned, always took
first place, much to the joy of his father, who expected him
to play an important role in life, from the very first.

In the course of time this young man developed certain
traits which caused his father sorrow, and these he tried
to change. The boy's sister grew up to be his obdurate
rival. She also developed very well, although she was satis-
fied with utilizing the weapons of weakness for her
triumphs, while she enlarged her significance at the cost
of her brother. She had acquired a considerable facility
in household tasks, which made competition difficult for
her brother. As a boy, he found it very difficult to achieve,
in domesticity, that recognition and significance which he
had so easily won in other fields of endeavor. The father

102 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

soon noticed that his son was acquiring a peculiar social
life, which became the more evident as his puberty ap-
proached. As a matter of fact he had no social life. He
was hostile to all new acquaintanceships and where these
acquaintanceships concerned girls, he simply ran away.
At first his father saw nothing extraordinary in this, but
as time went on the boy's social reactions acquired such
dimensions that he hardly went out of the house, and even
little walks, except in the late twilight, were unpleasant
to him. He became so shut in that he refused, finally, to
greet even his old acquaintances, although his attitude in
school and towards his father remained beyond criticism.

When it had gone so far that no one could bring him
anywhere, the father brought this boy to the physician.
A few consultations sufficed to discover the cause of the
difficulty. This boy believed that his ears were small and
that therefore everyone considered him very ugly. As a
matter of fact this was not the case. When his objection
was overruled and he was told that his ears were in no-
wise different from those of other boys, and it was shown
him that he was using this as an excuse to withdraw from
the company of human beings, he added further that his
teeth and his hair also were ugly. This also was not the case.

On the other hand it was easily discovered that he was
inordinately ambitious. He was well aware of his ambition
and believed that his father, who had constantly stimulated
him to greater and greater activity so that he might achieve
a high position in life, had produced this trait in him. His
plans for the future came to their climax in his desire to
play the role of a hero of science. This would not be so
remarkable were it not that with it was combined a ten-
dency to avoid all the obligations of humanity and fellow-
ship. Why did this boy make use of such very childish
arguments? Had these arguments been right they might

THE PREPARATION FOR LIFE 103

have justified him in approaching life with a certain cau-
tion and anxiety, because it is undoubtedly true that an
ugly man encounters many difficulties in our civilization.

Further examination showed that this boy followed a
particular goal with his great ambition. Formerly he had
always been the first one in his class and he wanted to re-
main the first one. To achieve such a goal one has certain
instruments such as concentration, industry and the like,
at hand. These were not enough for him. He attempted to
exclude everything which seemed unnecessary, out of his
life. He might have expressed himself somewhat like this :
'* Since I am going to become famous and since I am going
to dedicate myself entirely to my scientific labors, I must
exclude all social relationships as unnecessary.'*

But he neither said nor thought this. On the contrary he
took the unessential element of his alleged ugliness and
utilized it for the attainment of his purpose. The elevation
of this insignificant fact acquired value in his scheme of
things in that it justified him in doing what in reality he
wanted to do. All he needed to do now was to have courage
to argue falsely, to exaggerate his ugliness, in order to pur-
sue his secret purpose. Had he said that he wished to live
like an ascetic hermit in order to attain his goal of being
the first, his argument would have been transparent to
everyone. Although unconsciously he was dedicated to the
idea of playing the heroic role, he was consciously unaware
of his purpose.

That he wished to hazard everything else in life and
gain this one point had never entered his head. If he had
taken this into his consciousness and decided openly to
stake everything in life in order to become a scientific
hero, he could not have been as sure of himself as if he
were to accomplish his purpose by saying that he was an
ugly man and dared not go into society ; in addition anyone

104 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

who would say openly that he wanted forever to be first
and the greatest, and was willing to sacrifice all human
relationships for the sake of his goal, would make himself
ridiculous in the eyes of his fellows. It would be too fear-
ful a thought, a thought which one dared not think. There
are certain ideas which one cannot hold too openly, both
for the sake of others and for the sake of oneself. For this
reason the guiding idea of this boy's life had to remain
in his unconscious.

If now we mal^e obvious to such an individual the main-
springs of his life, and demonstrate to him tendencies
which he dared not look at in himself lest he lose his be-
havior pattern, we naturally disturb his entire psychic
mechanism. "What this individual has been trying at all
costs to prevent, now happens! His unconscious thought
processes become clear and transparent! Thoughts which
were not to be thought, ideas which one dared not retain,
tendencies which, if conscious, would disturb our entire
behavior, are laid bare. It is a universal and human phe-
nomenon that everyone seizes upon those thoughts which
justify him in his attitude and rejects every idea which
might prevent him from going on. Human beings dare only
those things which in their interpretation of the world are
valuable to them. That which is helpful we are conscious
of; whatever can disturb our arguments we push into the
unconscious.

The second case is the history of a very capable young
boy whose father, a teacher, constantly spurred his son on
to be the first in his class. In this case, too, the early days
of this child were a series of victories. Wherever he ap-
peared he was always the conqueror. He was one of the
most charming members of his society and he had several
close friends.

A great change occurred in his eighteenth year. He lost

THE PREPARATION FOR LIFE 105

all his pleasure in life, was depressed, distracted, and went
to great lengths to withdraw from the world. No sooner
would he make a friendship than he broke it. Everyone
found a stumbling block in his behavior. His father how-
ever hoped that his shut-in life would enable him to dedi-
cate himself more intensely to his studies.

During the treatment of this boy he complained con-
stantly that his father had robbed him of all joy in life,
that he could find no self-confidence nor courage to go on
with life, and that there was nothing left for him to do
but to sorrow through the rest of his days in solitude.
His progress in his studies had already become slower and
he was failing in College. He explained that the change in
his life had begun on the occasion during a social gather-
ing in which his ignorance of modem literature had made
h,im the object of ridicule among his friends. The repetition
of similar experiences caused him to begin his isolation
and gave him occasion to assume a position outside society.
He was ruled by the idea that his father was to blame for
his misfortune, and their relationship became worse day
by day.

These two cases are similar to each other in many re-
spects. In the first case our patient was shipwrecked on
the resistance of his sister, whereas in the second it was
the belligerent attitude toward a father who was at fault.
Both patients were led on by an idea which we have been
accustomed to call the heroic ideal. Both of them had be-
come so intoxicated with their heroic ideal that they had
lost all contact with life, had become discouraged and would
have liked nothing better than to withdraw entirely from
the struggle. But we cannot believe that our second boy
would ever have said to himself: ** Since I cannot continue
this heroic existence I shall withdraw from life and embitter
the rest of my days ! ' '

106 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

To be sure, his father was wrong and his education was
bad. It was quite evident that he had eyes for nothing but
his bad education, of which he constantly complained, since
he wanted to justify himself in his withdrawal, by assum-
ing that his education had been so bad that withdrawal
from society alone remained a solution of his problem. In
this way he achieved a situation in which he suffered no
more defeats, and he was able to credit his father with the
total blame for his misfortune. Only in this way was he
able to save a fraction of his self-esteem for himself and
satisfy his striving for significance. He had a glorious past
and his future triumphs had been stopped only by the
fatal fact that his father, because of his bad pedagogy,
had hindered him from developing to even more brilliant
accomplishments.

In a way we might say that something like this train
of thought remained unconsciously in his mind: '* Since
I now stand closer to the firing front of life, and since I
realize that it will no longer be so easy always to be the
first, I shall make every effort to withdraw entirely from
life.'* Yet such an idea is clearly unthinkable. No one
could say such a thing, but an individual can act as if he
had taken this thought to heart. This is accomplished by
making use of still further arguments ; by busying himself
entirely with the educational mistakes of his father he suc-
ceeds in evading society, and avoids all necessary decisions
in life. Had this train of thought become conscious to him
his secret behavior would, of necessity, have been disturbed.
Therefore it remained unconscious. How could anyone say
that he was an untalented human being when he had such
a glorious past ? To be sure none could blame him now if he
succeeded to no new triumphs ! The pernicious influence of
his father's educational efforts was not to be laid aside. The
son was judge, claimant, and defendant all in his own per-

THE PREPARATION FOR LIFE 107

son. Should lie now give up such a favorable position? He
knew too well that his father was to blame only so long
as he, the son, wanted it, so long as he plied the lever
which he held between his hands.

V. Dreams

It has long been maintained that one could draw con-
clusions concerning the personality-as-a-whole from the
dreams of an individual. Lichtenberg, a contemporary of
Goethe, once said that one could guess the character and
essence of a human being better from his dreams than from
his actions and words. This is saying a little too much. We
have the standpoint that one must utilize single phenomena
of the psychic life with the greatest care and only in con-
nection with other phenomena. We therefore will draw
conclusions concerning his character from the dreams of an
individual only when we can find additional supporting
evidence in other characteristics, to substantiate our in-
terpretation of the dream.

The interpretation of dreams dates from prehistoric
times. The research of various epochs in the developmental
history of culture, especially as evidenced in myths and
sagas, leads us to the conclusion that in times b3^-gone
people were far more concerned with the interpretation
of dreams than we are today. We also find a much better
understanding of dreams on the part of the average man
of those days than is the case today. One need but recall
the enormous role of dreams in the life of the ancient
Greeks, or the fact that Cicero wrote a book about them,
or remind oneself of the many dreams told in the Bible,
to prove this point. And more. The Bible dreams are either
cleverly interpreted, or they are related as though it were
self-understood that everyone would then interpret them

108 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

correctly and understand them. This is the case in the in-
stance of Joseph's dream of the sheaves which he told his
brothers. In the Nibelungen sagas, which originated in an
entirely different culture, furthermore, we can conclude
that dreams were used as evidence.

If we busy ourselves with dreams as a means of approach-
ing and learning something of the human soul, we shall
hardly view the problem from the standpoint of those in-
vestigators who seek in the dream and in dream interpreta-
tion fantastic and supernatural influences. "We shall de-
pend upon the evidence of dreams only when we can be
justified and strengthened in our assertions by other far
reaching observations.

The tendency to believe that dreams have a particular
meaning for the future, persists even today. There are ideal-
ists who go so far as to allow themselves to be influenced
by their dreams. In this way one of our patients tricked
himself into avoiding every honorable occupation and de-
voted himself to gambling on the Exchange. He always
gambled according to dreams which he had. He had col-
lected historical evidence to prove he had always had .mis-
fortune whenever he did not follow one of his dreams. To
be sure, he would dream of nothing except that which was
the object of his constant waking attention. In this way
he patted himself on the back, so to speak, in his dream,
and was enabled for a considerable period of time to say
that he had won very much under the influence of his
dream. Some time later he explained that he placed no
value whatever upon his dreams. It seems that he had lost
all his money. Since this happens frequently to stock market
operators even without dreams we see no miracle at work
here. An individual who is intensely interested in some
particular task is pursued by the necessity of solving this
problem even at night. Some people do not sleep at all and

THE PREPARATION FOR LIFE 109

constantly foUow their problem while awake, others sleep
but busy themselves with their plans in their dreams.

This peculiar phenomenon which occupies our thoughts
during our sleep, is nothing more than the bridge from
yesterday to tomorrow. If we know what attitude an in-
dividual takes towards life in general, how he bridges from
the **now'' into the "then,'' as a rule we will be able to
understand also the peculiarities of his bridge structure
in his dreams and be able to make valid conclusions from
it. In other words it is the general attitude toward life
which is at the basis of all dreams.

A young woman has the following dream: she dreams
that her husband has forgotten her wedding anniversary
and she reproaches him for it. This dream may mean sev-
eral things. If such a problem can occur at all it immed-
iately shows us that this marriage is marked by certain
difficulties; the wife feels herself neglected. She explains
however that she also forgot about the wedding anniversary
but it was she who finally remembered it whereas her hus-
band had to be reminded of it by her. She is the ** better
half." To a further question she said that actually nothing
like this has ever happened and that her husband has
always remembered the wedding anniversary. Therefore
in the dream we see her tendency to be anxious for the
future : something like this might happen. "We can further
conclude that she is given to making reproaches, to using
arguments which are intangible, and to nagging her hus-
band for things which might occur.

Still we could not be sure of our interpretation if we
did not have other evidence at hand which would reinforce
our conclusions. Asked about her earliest childhood re-
membrance, this woman narrated an event which had al-
ways remained in her memory. When she was a three year
old child her aunt presented her with a carved wooden

110 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

spoon of which she was very proud; but once as she was
playing with it, it fell in a brook and floated away. She
sorrowed about this event for many days in such a way
that everyone in her environment was concerned with it.

The dream might lead us to assume that she was now
again thinking of the possibility that her marriage also
might float away from her. What if her husband should
forget about her wedding anniversary ?

Another time she dreamt that her husband led her up into
a high building ; the stairs grow more and more steep. Think-
ing that she has perhaps climbed too high she becomes ter-
ribly dizzy, has an attack of anxiety, and faints. One may
experience a similar sensation during the waking life, es-
pecially if one suffers from dizziness in high places in
which the fear is less that of the height than of the depth.
By connecting the second dream with the first one and
melting them together the thought, feeling, and content
of these dreams give a clear impression that this is a
woman who is anxious about falling, who is afraid of mis-
chief or calamity. "We can imagine that the waning affec-
tion of her husband, or something similar, would be such a
calamity. What would happen if her husband in some way
were not compatible? What if their marr,ied life were dis-
turbed ? Scenes might occur, fights take place, which might
end with the wife^s fainting as though lifeless. This ac-
tually occurred once during a family argument!

Now we come nearer to the meaning of the dream. It is
quite a matter of indifference in which material the thought
and emotional content of the dreams expresses itself, or
what instruments are used for this expression, so long as
the material is in any way useful and some expression
is assured. In the dream the life problem of an individual
as expressed in a simile. It is as though she said, "Do not
climb too high so that you will not fall too far!" It may

THE PREPARATION FOR LIFE 111

be well to recall the reproduction of a dream in the *' Mar-
riage Song" of Goethe. A knight comes home from the
country and finds his castle deserted. Tired out he falls
into his bed and in his dream he sees little figures coming
out from under his bed and notices a marriage ceremony
among these dwarfs. He is agreeably pleased by his dream.
It is as though he wanted to corroborate in his thoughts
the need for finding a woman. What he saw here in minia-
ture occurred later in reality as he celebrated his own
marriage.

We find many well known elements in this dream. In the
first place the preoccupation of the poet with his own
marriage is hidden behind it. We can see further how
the dreamer, in his utter need strikes an attitude toward
his contemporary situation in life. This situation demands
marriage. He occupies himself in his dream with the prob-
lem of marriage and on the following day decides that it
would be better if he too, were to get married.

Now let us consider a dream of a twenty-eight-year-old
man. The movement of the dream, changing from ascent
to descent like the temperature curve of a fever, indicates
very clearly the psychic movements with which the life
of this man is filled. The feeling of inferiority from which
arise the tendencies and strivings for power and for domi-
nance are easily recognized. He relates: **I am making an
excursion with a large group of people. We must get out
at a way-station because the ship on which we are to make
this excursion is too small, and we must stay in this town
over night. During the night the report comes that the ship
is sinking, and all participants in the excursion are called
to man the pumps in order to prevent it. I remember that
I have some valuables in my baggage and rush to the ship
where everyone else is already working at the pumps. I
seek to escape this work and look for the baggage room. I

112 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

succeed in fishing my knapsack througli the window and
at the same time I see a penknife which I like very much
next to my knapsack. I put it in the knapsack. With an ac-
quaintance I jump off as the ship sinks deeper and deeper.
We jump off into the sea and land on the ground. Since the
pier is too high we wander further along and come to a
precipitous cliff down which I must go. I slide down. I have
not seen my companion since leaving the ship. I go faster
and faster and fear that I will be killed. Finally I land at
the bottom and fall just in front of an acquaintance. It is
an otherwise unknown young man who had been in a
strike and hiad worked very quietly among the strikers,
who was agreeable to me. He greets me with reproachful
words, just as though he knew that I had left the others
on the ship in the lurch. *What are you doing here?' he
asks. I seek to escape from this abyss which is surrounded
on all sides by precipitous cliffs from which ropes hang
down. I do not dare use them because they are too thin.
With every attempt to climb out of the abyss I always slide
back again. Finally I am on top, but I don't know how
I got there. It seems to me that I purposely did not want
to dream this part of the dream, as if I wanted to skip over
it impatiently. On the edge of the abyss, on top, there was
a road which was protected on the side of the abyss by a
fence. People were going by here, and greeted me in a
friendly fashion."

If we go back into the life of this dreamer the first thing
that we hear is that he constantly suffered from severe ill-
ness up to the fifth year of his life, and that after this
time he was often ill. As a result of his weak health he
was carefully and anxiously guarded by his parents. H^
contact with other children was very slight. When he
wanted to make contact with grown-ups he was always
told by his parents that children should be seen and not

THE PREPARATION FOR LIFE 113

heard, and that children do not belong with adults. He thus
failed at a very early age to find those points of contact
which are necessary for social life, and remained in con-
nection solely with his parents. The further outcome of
this was that he remained considerably behind his compan-
ions of the same age, with whom he could not keep up. We
are not to be astonished to hear that he was also considered
stupid among them, and soon became the butt of all their
jokes. This circumstance, again, prevented him from finding
friends.

An extraordinary feeling of inferiority was accentuated
to the highest degree by these circumstances. His education
was directed entirely by his well-wishing, but very irasci-
ble, military father, and by his weak, uncomprehending,
very domineering mother. Although his parents were con-
stantly reiterating their good will, his education must have
been a very strict one. His discouragement played a con-
siderable role in this process. A very significant event re-
tained in his earliest childhood remembrances was that
when he was but three years old his mother made him kneel
on peas for half an hour. The reason for this was a dis-
obedience whose cause his mother knew very well, as the
child had told her. He had become frightened of a horse-
man and had therefore refused to run an errand for his
mother. As a matter of fact he was spanked very seldom,
but when this did occur, he was always beaten with a many-
tailed dog whip, and never without being under the neces-
sity of afterwards begging for forgiveness and relating the
causes for which he had been beaten. ''The child should
know,** said the father, ''how he has misbehaved." Once
he was beaten unjustly and as he could not say afterwards
why he was beaten, was beaten again, indeed was beaten
until he confessed to some misdeed or other.

A belligerent feeling towards his parents was present

114 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

from his earliest days. His feeling of inferiority had ac-
quired such dimensions that he could not even conceive of
being superior. His life at school as well as at home was an
almost unbroken chain of greater or lesser defeats. The
smallest victory, in his opinion, was denied him. At school,
up to the time that he was eighteen years old, he was al-
ways the one who was laughed at. Once he was laughed at
even by his teacher, who read a bad theme aloud to the
class and accompanied the reading with derisive remarks.

Everyone of these occurrences forced him further and
further into isolation, and sooner or later he began to with-
draw from the world, of his own accord. In his battle with
his parents he happened upon a very effective although
costly method of attack. He refused to speak, and with
this gesture, he relinquished the most important grappling
hook with which one fastens himself to the outer world.
Since he was unable to speak with anyone, he became en-
tirely solitary. Misunderstood by all, he spoke to none,
particularly not with his parents; and finally no one
addressed him. Every attempt to bring him into society
came to grief, as every attempt to establish love relation-
ships later in his life also failed, much to his sorrow. This
is the course of his life until his twenty-eighth year. The
deep inferiority complex which had permeated his whole
spirit had as a consequence given rise to an ambition be-
yond all reason, an unreined striving for significance and
superiority which ceaselessly distorted his feeling of human
fellowship. The less he spoke, the more was his psychic life
filled, by day and by night, with dreams of triumphs and
victories of every sort.

And thus he dreamt one night the dream which we
have related above, in which we see clearly the movement
and the pattern according to which his psychic life de-
veloped. In conclusion let us recall a dream which Cicero

THE PREPARATION FOR LIFE 115

has related, one of the most famous prophetic dreams in
literature.

The poet Simonides, who at one time had found the
corpse of an unidentified man lying on the street and had
cared for his decent interment, was warned by the ghost
of this dead man, as he was about to attempt a sea journey,
that if he should take the journey he would be shipwrecked.
Simonides did not go and all those who did, died.^

According to the report this event in connection with
the dream is supposed to have had an unusually deep im-
pression on all people for hundreds of years.

If we want to interpret this occurrence we must main-
tain that in that time ships were wrecked very frequently,
and also that because of this reason many people who
were on the eve of a sea journey, dreamt of shipwrecks,
and that among these many dreams this particular dream
demonstrated a particular coincidence between dream and
reality which was so remarkable that it remained for pos-
terity. It is quite conceivable that those who have a ten-
dency to ferret out mysterious relationships have an es-
pecial weakness for just such stories, whereas we very
calmly and soberly interpret the dream as follows: our
poet probably never showed any great desire to take this
trip because of his considerable care for his bodily well-
being; as the hour of decision neared he was hard put
to it to find a justification for his hesitating attitude. For
this reason he allowed the corpse who was under the neces-
sity of proving himself grateful for h,is decent burial, to
appear in a prophetic role. That he now did not take
the trip is self -understood. If the ship had not gone under
the world would never have learned anything about the

1 Cf . Enne Nielson, "The Unexplained, In Its Course Through The
Centuries." Published by the Langewies che-Brandt. Ebenhausen near
Munich.

116 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

dream nor the story, in all probability. For we experience
only those things which set our brain into unrest, which
demonstrate to us that there is more wisdom hidden between
heaven and earth than we allow ourselves to dream of. We
can understand the prophetic nature of dreams in so far
as we know that both dream and reality contain the same
attitude toward life which an individual shows.

Another thing which we must consider is the fact that
all dreams are not so easily understood ; as a matter of fact
only a very few are. We forget the dream immediately after
it has left its peculiar impression and do not understand
what is behind it unless we have been versed in the inter-
pretation of dreams. Yet these dreams, too, are but a sym-
bolic and metaphoric reflection of the activity and behavior
pattern of an individual. The main meaning of a simile or
comparison is that it affords us access to a situation in
which we are anxious to find ourselves. If we are occupied
with the solution of a problem and if our personality points
a specific direction of approach, then we need but seek for
an animating push to propel us into it. The dream is extra-
ordinarily well suited to intensify an emotion, or produce
the verve which is necessary to the solution of a particular
situation. Nothing is altered by the fact that the dreamer
does not understand the connection. It suffices that he
finds the material and the boost in some fashion ; the dream
itself will give evidence of the manner in which the thought
processes of the dreamer express themselves, as it will in-
dicate the behavior pattern of the dreamer. The dream is
like a column of smoke which shows that a fire is burning
somewhere. The experienced woodsman can observe the
smoke and tell what kind of wood is burning, just as the
psychiatrist can draw conclusions concerning the nature of
an individual by interpreting his dream.

THE PREPARATION FOR LIFE 117

Summing up, we can say that a dream shows not only
that the dreamer is occupied in the solution of one of his
life 's problems, but also how he approaches these problems.
In particular, those two factors which influence the dreamer
in his relationship with the world and reality, the social
feeling and the striving for power, will make themselves
evident in his dream.

VI. Talent

Among those psychic phenomena which enable us to
judge an individual we have left out of consideration one
which is concerned with his intellectual powers. "We have
placed little value upon what an individual says or thinks
of himself. We are convinced that each of us can somehow
go astray and that each of us feels himself under the
necessity of retouching his psychic image for his fellow
man, through various of the complicated egoistic, moral,
or other tricks. One thing we are, however, permitted to
do, and that is to draw certain conclusions from specific
thought processes and their expression in speech, even
though this is possible only to a limited degree. We cannot
exclude thought and speech from our examination if we
wish to judge the individual correctly.

What we are pleased to call talent, that is the special
ability to make judgments, has been the subject of numer-
ous observations, analyses, and tests, among which the tests
of intelligence, in children and adults, are well known.
These are the so-called tests for talent. Up to the present
time these tests have been unsuccessful. Whenever a num-
ber of pupils are tested the results usually show what the
teacher could easily have determined without tests. In the
beginning the experimental psychologists were very proud

118 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

of this althougli it must have been evident at the same
time that the tests were, to a certain degree, superfluous.
Another objection to intelligence tests is the fact that the
thought and judgment processes and abilities of children
do not develop regularly, so that many children who show
poor results on the tests, suddenly show an extraordinarily
good development and talent after a few years. Another
element which must be considered is that children in large
cities, and those from certain social circles, are better pre-
pared for the tests by virtue of their broader life. Their
seemingly greater intelligence is deceptive and places other
children who have not such a fund of preparation, rela-
tively in the shadow. It is well known that eight to ten-year-
old children of well-to-do families, are much more quick
witted than poor children of the same age. This does not
mean that the children of the wealthy are more talented
but that the cause for this difference lies entirely in the
circumstances of their previous life.

Up to the present time we have not gone very far with
tests of talent, as is very evident when we view the sorry
results which have been shown in Berlin and Hamburg
where those children who evinced the greatest talent in the
tests failed in conspicuous percentages later on in their
education. This phenomenon would seem to prove that we
have no certain guarantee for the future healthy develop-
ment of the child in the results of his mental test. The
experiments of Individual Psychology, quite on the con-
trary, have stood the test far better, because they have not
been directed toward the determination of a particular de-
gree of development, but rather have been designed to
further the understanding of the positive factors underly-
ing this development. These same observations have, when
necessary, pressed the proper instruments of correction into

THE PREPARATION FOR LIFE 119

the hands of the child. It has been the principle of In-
dividual Psychology never to dissolve the thought and
judgment powers of a child out of the structure of his
soul life, but to view them, solely in connection with his
other psychic processes.

i

CHAPTER VII

SEX
I. BiSEXUALITY AND THE DIVISION OF LaBOB

From our previous considerations we have learned that
two great tendencies dominate all psychic phenomena.
These two tendencies, the social feeling, and the individ-
ual striving for power and domination, influence every hu-
man activity and color the attitude of every individual
in his striving for security, in his fulfillment of the three
great challenges of life: love, work, and society. "We shall
have to accustom ourselves, in judging psychic phenomena,
to investigate the quantitative and the qualitative relation-
ships of these two factors if we want to understand the
human soul. The relationship of these factors to one another
conditions the degree to which anyone is capable of com-
prehending the logic of communal life, and therefore, the
degree to which he is capable of subordinating himself to
the division of labor which grows out of the necessity of
that communal life.

Division of labor is a factor in the maintenance of human
society which must not be overlooked. Everyone at some
time, or at some place, must contribute his quota. That man
who does not deliver his quota, who denies the value of
communal life, becomes an anti-social being, and resigns
his fellowship in humanity. In simple cases of this sort
we speak of egotism, of mischievousness, of self-centered-
ness, of nuisance. In the more complicated cases, we see the
120

SEX 121

eccentrics, the hoboes, and the criminals. Public condemna-
tion of these traits and characteristics grows out of an ap-
preciation of their origins, an intuition of their incompati-
bility with the demands of social life. Any man's value,
therefore, is determined by his attitude toward his fellow
men, and by the degree in which he partakes of the di-
vision of labor which communal life demands. His affirma-
tion of this communal life makes him important to other
human beings, makes him a link in the great chain which
binds society, the chain which we cannot in any way dis-
turb without also disturbing human society. A man's ca-
pabilities determine his place in the total production of
human society. Much confusion has clouded this simplq
truth, because the striving for power and the lust for dom-
inance have introduced false values into the normal divi-
sion of labor. This striving for dominance has disturbed
and thwarted the total production, and has given us a false
basis for the judgment of human values.

Individuals have disturbed this division of labor by re-
fusing to adapt tliemselves to the place that they must fill.
Further, difficulties have arisen out of the false ambition
and power wishes of individuals who have blocked com-
munal life and the communal work for their own egoistic
interests. Similarly, entanglements have been caused by
class differences in our society. Personal power or economic
interest have influenced the division of the field of labor
by reserving all the better positions for individuals of
certain classes, that is, those affording the greater power,
while other individuals, of other classes, have been excluded
from them. The recognition of these numerous factors in
the structure of society enables us to understand why the
division of labor has never proceeded smoothly. Forces con-
tinually disturbing this division of labor have created priv-
ilege for one, and slavery for another.

122 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

The bisexuality of the human race conditions another
division of labor. "Woman, by virtue of her physical con-
stitution, is excluded from some certain activities, while
on the other hand, there are certain labors which are not
given to man, because man could better be employed at
other tasks. This division of labor should have been in-
stituted according to an entirely unprejudiced standard,
and all the movements for the emancipation of women in
so far as they have not overstepped logical points in the
heat of conflict, have taken up the logic of this point of
view. A division of labor is far from robbing woman of her
femininity, or disturbing the natural relationships between
man and woman. Each acquires those opportunities of la-
bor which are best fitted for him. In the course of human
development this division of labor has so configured itself
that woman has taken over a certain part of the world's
work (which might otherwise occupy a man too), in return
for which man is in the position to use his powers to
greater effect. We cannot call this division of labor sense-
less so long as the powers for work are not misused, and so
long as physical and mental powers are not deflected to a
bad end.

II. The Dominance op the Male in the Culture
OF Today

As a consequence of the development of culture in the
direction of personal power, especially through the efforts
of certain individuals and certain classes of society, who
wish to secure privileges for themselves, this division
of labor has fallen into characteristic channels which have
colored our entire civilization. The importance of the
male in the culture of today is greatly emphasized as a
result. The division of labor is such that the privileged

SEX 123

group, men, are guaranteed certain advantages, and
this as a result of their domination over women in the
division of labor. Thus the dominant male assumes ad-
vantages and directs the activity of women to the end
that the more agreeable forms of life shall appertain al-
ways to the males, whereas those activities are allowed
women which men can advantageously avoid.

As things stand now there is a constant striving on the
part of men to dominate women, and an appropriate dis-
satisfaction with masculine domination on the part of
women. Since the two sexes are so narrowly connected it
is easily conceivable that this constant tension leads to psy-
chic dissonances and to far reaching physical disturbances
which must of necessity be extraordinarily painful to both
sexes.

All our institutions, our traditional attitudes, our laws,
our morals, our customs, give evidence of the fact that they
are determined and maintained by privileged males for
the glory of male domination. These institutions reach out
,into the very nurseries and have a great influence upon
the child's soul. A child's understanding of these rela-
tionships need not be very great, but we must admit that
his emotional life is immensely affected by them. These
attitudes may well be investigated when for instance we
see a young boy responding to the request to put on girls'
clothes, with a terrific temper tantrum. Once let a boy's
craving for power reach a certain degree, and you will
surely find him showing a preference for the privileges of
being a man which, he recognizes, guarantee his superiority
everywhere. We have already mentioned the fact that the
education in our families nowadays is only too well de-
signed to overvalue the striving for power. The consequent
tendency to maintain and exaggerate the masculine privi-
lege follows naturally, for it is usually the father who

124 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

stands as the family symbol of power. His mysterious com-
ings and goings arouse the interest of the child much more
than the constant presence of a mother. The child quickly
recognizes the prominent role his father plays, and notes
how he sets the pace, makes all arrangements, and appears
everywhere as the leader. He sees how all obey his com-
mands and how his mother asks him for his advice. From
every angle, his father seems to be the one who is strong
and powerful. There are children for whom the father is
so much a standard that they believe that everything he
says must be holy; they attest to the rightness of their
views simply by saying that their father once said so. Even
in those cases in which the fatherly influence does not seem
to be so well marked, children will get the idea of the domi-
nation of the father because the whole load of the family
seems to rest upon him, whereas, as a matter of fact, it is
only the division of labor which enables the father in the
family to use his powers to better advantage.

So far as the history of the origin of masculine domi-
nance is concerned, we must call attention to the fact that
this is a phenomenon which does not occur as a natural
thing. This is indicated by the numerous laws which are
necessary legally to guarantee this domination to men. It
is also an indication that previous to the legal enforcement
of masculine domination there must have been other epochs
in which the masculine privilege was not nearly so certain.
History proves that such epochs actually existed in the
days of the matriarchate, the age in which it was the
mother, the woman, who played the important role in life,
particularly so far as the child was concerned. At that
time each man in the clan was in duty bound to respect
the honored position of the mother. Certain customs and
usages are still colored by this ancient institution, as for
instance, the introduction of all strange men to a child

SEX 125

with the title of *' uncle'' or ''cousin." A terrific battle
must have preceded the transition from matriarchate to
masculine domination. Men who like to believe that their
privileges and prerogatives are determined by nature will
be surprised to learn that men did not possess these pre-
rogatives from the beginning, but had to fight for them.^
The triumph of man was simultaneous with the subjuga-
tion of women, and it is especially the evidence in the devel-
opment of the law which bears witness to this long process
of subjugation.

Masculine dominance is not a natural thing. There is
evidence to prove that it occurred chiefly as a result of con-
stant battles between primitive peoples, during the course
of which man assumed the more prominent role as war-
rior, and finally used his newly won superiority in order
to retain the leadership for himself and for his own ends.
Hand in hand with this development was a development
of property rights and inheritance rights which became a
basis of masculine domination, in so far as man usually was
the acquirer and owner of property.

A growing child need not however read books on this
theme. Despite the fact that he knows nothing of these
archaeological data he senses the fact that the male is the
privileged member of the family. This occurs even when
fathers and mothers with considerable insight are disposed
to overlook those privileges which we have inherited from
ancient days, in favor of a greater equality. It is very
difficult to make it clear to a child that a mother who is
engaged in household duties is as valuable as a father.

Think what it means to a young boy who sees the prevail-
ing privilege of manhood before his eyes from his earliest

lA very good description of this development can be found in
August Bebel's "Woman and Socialism" and in Mathias and Ma-
thilde Vaerting's "The Dominant Sex."

126 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

days. From the day of his birth he is received with greater
acclamation than a girl child. It is a well known and all too
frequent occurrence that parents prefer to have boys as
children. A boy senses at every step that, as a chip of
the old block, he has certain privileges and a greater social
value. Casual words directed toward him or taken up by
him occasionally are constantly calling to his attention the
fact of the greater importance of the masculine role.

The domination of the male also appears to him in the
institution of female servants about the house who are used
for menial tasks, and finally he is reinforced in his senti-
ments by the fact that the women in his environment are
not at all convinced of their equality with men. That most
important question which all women should ask their pros-
pective husbands before marriage : * ^ What is your attitude
toward masculine domination, particularly in family life ? * '
is usually never answered. In one case we find an expres-
sion of the striving for equality and in another case any of
the various degrees of resignation. In contrast we see the
father convinced from boyhood that as a man he has a more
important role to play. He interprets this conviction as an
implicit duty, and concerns himself solely with responding
to the challenges of life and society in favor of masculine
privilege.

Every situation which arises out of this relationship is
experienced by the child. What he gets out of it is a num-
ber of pictures concerning the nature of woman, in which
for the most part the woman plays a sorry figure. In this
way the development of the boy has a distinct masculine
color. What he believes to be the worth-while goals in his
striving for power are exclusively masculine qualities and
masculine attitudes. A typical masculine virtue grows out
of these power relationships, which patently indicates its
origins to us. Certain character traits count as masculine.

SEX 127

others as feminine, albeit there is no basis to justify these
valuations. If we compare the psychic state of boys and
girls and seemingly find evidence in support of this classi-
fication, we do not deal with natural phenomena, but are
describing the expressions of individuals who have been
directed into a very specific channel, whose style of life and
behavior pattern have been narrowed down by specific con-
ceptions of power. These conceptions of power have in-
dicated to them with compelling force the place where they
must seek to develop. There is no justification for the dif-
ferentiation of *' manly" and ** womanly" character traits.
We shall see how both these traits are capable of being
used to fulfill the striving for power. In other words, that
one can express power with the so-called * * feminine ' ' traits,
such as obedience and submission. The advantages which
an obedient child enjoys can sometimes bring it much more
into the lime-light than a disobedient child, though the
striving for power is present in both cases. Our insight
into psychic life is often made more difficult by the fact
that striving for power expresses itself in the most complex
fashion.

As a boy grows older his masculinity becomes a signif-
icant duty, his ambition, his desire for power and superi-
ority is indisputably connected and identified with the duty
to be masculine. For many children who desire power it
is not sufficient to be simply aware of their masculinity ;
they must show a proof that they are men, and there-
fore they must have privileges. They accomplish this, on
the one hand, by efforts to excel, thereby measuring their
masculine traits; on the other hand they may succeed by
tyrannizing their feminine environment in every possible
way. According to the degree of resistance which they
meet, these boys utilize either stubbornness and wild in-
surgency, or craft and cunning, to gain their ends.

128 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

Since every human being is measured according to the
standard of the privileged male, it is no wonder that one
always holds this standard before a boy. Finally he meas-
ures himself according to it, observing and asking whether
his activities are sufficiently *' masculine, " whether he is
** fully a man." What we consider ** masculine" nowadays
is common knowledge. Above all it is something purely
egoistic, something which satisfies self-love, gives a feeling
of superiority and domination over others, all with the
aid of seemingly ''active" characteristics such as courage,
strength, duty, the winning of all manner of victories, es-
pecially those over women, the acquisition of positions,
honors, titles, and the desire to harden himself against so-
called "feminine" tendencies, and the like. There is a con-
stant battle for personal superiority because it counts as a
"masculine" virtue to be dom,inant.

In this manner every boy assumes characteristics which
he sees in adult men, especially his father. We can trace
the ramifications of this artificially nourished delusion of
grandeur in the most diverse manifestations of our society.
At an early age a boy is urged to secure for himself a re-
serve of power and privileges. This is what is called "man-
liness." In bad cases it degenerates into the well-known
expressions of rudeness and brutality.

The advantages of being a man are, under such condi-
tions, very alluring. We must not be astonished therefore
when we see many girls who maintain a masculine ideal
either as an unfulfilable desire, or as a standard for the
judgment of their behavior ; this ideal may evince itself as
a pattern for action and appearance. It would seem that in
our culture every woman wanted to be a man ! In this class
we find those girls particularly who have an uncontrollable
desire to distinguish themselves in games and activities
which are more appropriate to boys by virtue of their dif-

SEX 129

ferent physique. They climb up every tree, play rather
with boys than with girls, and avoid every *' womanly '*
activity as a shameful thing. Their satisfaction lies only in
masculine activities. The preference for manliness makes
all these phenomena understandable when we understand
how the striving for superiority is more concerned with
the symbols of things than with the activities of life.

III. The Alleged Inperioritt op Women

Man has been wont to justify his domination not only
by maintaining that his position is natural, but also that
his dominance results from the inferiority of women. This
conception of the inferioiity of woman is so widespread
that it appears as the common property of all races. Linked
with this prejudice is a certain unrest on the part of men
which may well have originated in the time of the war
against the matriarchate, when woman was a source of ac-
tual anxiety. We come upon indications of this constantly
in literature and history. A Latin author writes *'Mulier
est hominis confusio,*' *' Woman is the confusion of man."
In the theological consilia the question was often argued
whether a woman had a soul, and learned theses were writ-
ten concerning the question whether woman was actually
a human being. The century-long period of wjtch-persecu-
tion and witch-burning is a sorry witness of the errors,
the tremendous uncertainty and confusion of that happily
forgotten age, concerning this question.

Woman was often held up as the source of all evil, as in
the Biblical conception of the original sin, or as in the Iliad
of Homer. The story of Helen demonstrated how one
woman was capable of throwing whole peoples into mis-
fortune. Legends and fairy tales of all times contain in-
dices of the moral inferiority of woman, of her wickedness.

130 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

of her falsity, of her treachery and of her fickleness. *' Wom-
anly folly" has even been used as an argument in legal
cases. Coincident with these prejudices is the degradation
of woman's capability, industry, and ability. Figures of
speech, anecdotes, mottoes, and jokes, in all literatures and
among all peoples, are full of degrading critiques of
woman. Woman is reproached with her spitefulness, her
pettiness, her stupidity, and the like.

An extraordinary acuity is sometimes developed in or-
der to bear witness to the inferiority of woman. The num-
ber of men like Strindberg, Moebius, Schopenhauer, and
Weininger, who have upheld this thesis, has been enlarged
by a not inconsiderable number of women whose resigna-
tion has caused them to subscribe to a belief in the inferior-
ity of woman. They are the champions of woman's role of
submission. The degradation of woman and womanly labor
is further indicated by the fact that women are paid less
than men, regardless of whether their work is of equal
value.

In the comparison of the results of intelligence and tal-
ent tests it was actually found that for particular subjects,
as for instance, mathematics, boys showed more talent^
whereas girls showed more talent for other subjects, such
as languages. Boys actually do show greater talent than
girls for studies which are capable of preparing them for
their masculine occupation but this is only a seemingly
greater talent. If we investigate the situation of the girls
more closely we learn that the story of the lesser capability
of woman is a palpable fable. "

A girl is daily subjected to the argument that girls are
less capable than boys and are suitable only for unessential
activities. It is not surprising then that a girl is firmly con-
vinced of the unchangeable and bitter fate of a woman and
sooner or later because of her lack of training in childhood,

SEX 131

actually believes in her own incapability. Discouraged in
this manner, a girl approaches *' masculine ' ' occupations if
the opportunity to approach them ever presents, with a
foregone conclusion that she will not have the necessary in-
terest for them. Should she possess such interest, she soon
loses it, and thus she is denied both an outer and an inner
preparation.

Under such circumstances proof of the incapability of
woman seems valid. There are two causes for this. In the
first place the error is accentuated by the fact that the
value of a human being is frequently judged from purely
business standpoints, or on one-sided and purely egoistic
grounds. With such prejudices we can hardly be expected
to understand how far performance and capability are
coincident with psychic development. And this leads us
to the second main factor to which the fallacy of the lesser
capability of woman may thank its existence. It is a fre-
quently overlooked fact that a girl comes into the world
with a prejudice sounding in her ears which is designed
only to rob her of her belief in her own value, to shatter
her self-confidence and destroy her hope of ever doing any-
thing worth while. If this prejudice is constantly being
strengthened, if a girl sees again and again how women are
given servile roles to play, it is not hard to understand how
she loses courage, fails to face her obligations, and sinks
back from the solution of her life's problems. Then in-
deed she is useless and incapable! Yet if we approach a
human being, undermine his self-respect so far as his re-
lationship to society is concerned, cause him to abandon all
hope of ever accomplishing anything, ruin his courage, and
then find that he actually never amounts to anything, then
we dare not maintain that we were right, for we must ad-
mit that it is wc who have caused all his sorrow !

It is easy enough for a girl to lose her courage and her

132 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

self-confidence in our civilization, yet, as a matter of fact,
certain intelligence tests proved the interesting fact that
in a certain group of girls, aged from 14 to 18, greater tal-
ent and capability were evinced than was shown by all
other groups, boys included. Further researches show that
these were all girls from families in which the mother was
either the sole bread winner, or at least contributed largely
to the family support. What this means is that these girls
were in a situation at home in which the prejudice of the
lesser capability of woman was either not present or existed
only to a slight extent. They could see with their own eyes
how their mothers' industry had its rewards, and as a re-
sult they developed themselves much more freely and much
more independently, entirely uninfluenced by those in-
hibitions which are inevitably associated with the belief in
the lesser powers of a woman.

A further argument against this prejudice is the not
inconsiderable number of women who have accomplished
results in the most varied fields, particularly in literature,
art, crafts, and medicine, of such remarkable value that
they are quite capable of standing any comparison with
the results of men in these fields. There are so many men
furthermore who not only do not show any achievements
but are possessed of such a high grade of incapability that
we could easily find an equal number of proofs (of course
falsely) that men were the inferior sex.

One of the bitter consequences of the prejudice concern-
ing the inferiority of women is the sharp division and
pigeon-holing of concepts according to a scheme: thus
*' masculine" signifies worth-while, powerful, victorious,
capable, whereas "feminine" becomes identical with obe-
dient, servile, subordinate. This type of thinking has be-
come so deeply anchored in human thought processes that
in our civilization everything laudable has a ** masculine"

SEX 133

color whereas everything less valuable or actually deroga-
tory is designated "feminine." We all know men who could
not be more insulted than if we told them that they were
feminine, whereas if we say to a girl that she is masculine
it need signify no insult. The accent always falls so that
everything which is reminiscent of woman appears inferior.
Character traits which would seem to prove this falla-
cious contention of the inferiority of woman prove them-
selves on closer observation nothing more than the mani-
festation of an inhibited psychic development. We do not
maintain that we can make what is called a ''talented"
individual out of every child, but we can always make an
*'untalented" adult out of him. We have never done this
fortunately. Others, however, we know have succeeded
only too well. That such a fate overtakes girls more fre-
quently than boys, in our day and age, is easily understood.
We have often had the opportunity of seeing these *'un-
talented" children suddenly become so talented that one
might have spoken of a miracle !

IV. Desertion from Womanhood

The obvious advantages of being a man have caused se-
vere disturbances in the psychic development of women as
a consequence of which there is an almost universal dis-
satisfaction with the feminine role. The psychic life of
woman moves in much the same channels, and under much
the same rules, as that of any human beings who find them-
selves the possessors of a strong feeling of inferiority be-
cause of their situation in the scheme of things. The preju-
dice of her alleged inferiority as a woman signifies an ad-
ditional aggravating complication. If a considerable num-
ber of girls find some sort of compensation, they owe it
to their character development, to their intelligence, and

134 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

sometimes to certain acquired privileges. This shows simply
how one mistake may give rise to others. Such privileges
are the special dispensations, exemptions from obligations,
and the luxuries, which give a semblance of advantage in
that they simulate what purports to be a high degree of
respect for woman. There may be a certain degree of ideal-
ism in this, but finally this idealism is always an ideal
which has been fashioned by men to the advantage of men.
George Sand once described it very tellingly when she said :
^'The virtue of woman is a fine invention of man."

In general we can distinguish two types of women in
the battle against the feminine role. One type has already
been indicated : the girl who develops in an active, ' ' mascu-
line," direction. She becomes extraordinarily energetic
and ambitious, and is constantly fighting for the prizes of
life. She attempts to exceed her brothers and male com-
rades, chooses activities which are usually considered the
privilege of men by preference, is interested in sports and
the like. Very often she evades all the relationships of love
and marriage. If she enters into such a relationship she
may disturb its harmony by striving to be superior to her
husband! She may have tremendous disinclination to any
of the domestic activities. She may voice her disinclination
directly, or indirectly by disavowing all talent for domes-
tic duties, and constantly give evidence attempting to
prove that she has never developed a talent for domesticity.

This is the type that seeks to compensate for the evil
of the masculine attitude with a ''masculine" response.
The defense attitude toward womanhood is the foundation
of her whole being. She has been designated ''the boy-
girl," "la garconne," the "mannish" woman, and the like.
This designation, however, is based upon a false conception.
There are many people who believe that there is a congen-
ital factor present in such girls, a certain "masculine" sub-

SEX 135

stance or secretion which causes their *' masculine" at-
titude. The whole history of civilization, however, shows us
that the pressure exerted upon woman, and the inhibitions
to which she must submit today, are not to be borne by
any human being; they always give rise to revolt. If this
revolt now exhibits itself in the direction which we call
''masculine," the reason for it is simply that there are only
two sex roles possible. One must orient oneself according
to one of two models, either that of an ideal woman, or
according to that of an ideal man. Desertion from the role
of woman can therefore appear only as ** masculine, " and
vice versa. This does not occur as the result of some mys-
terious secretion, but because in the given time and place,
there is no other possibility. We must never lose sight of the
difficulties under which the psychic development of a girl
takes place. So long as we cannot guarantee every woman
an absolute equality with man we cannot demand her com-
plete reconciliation with life, with the facts of our civiliza-
tion, and the forms of our social life.

The woman who goes through life with an attitude of
resignation, who exhibits an almost unbelievable degree of
adjustment, obedience, and humbleness, belongs to the sec-
ond type. Seemingly she adjusts herself everywhere, takes
root wherever placed, but demonstrates such a high degree
of clumsiness and helplessness that she accomplishes noth-
ing at all! She may produce nervous symptoms, which
serve her in her weakness, to demonstrate her need for
consideration to others ; and she shows clearly thereby how
the training she has undergone, how her misuse of life,
is regularly accompanied by nervous diseases, and makes
her totally unfit for social life. She belongs to the best
people in the world, but unfortunately she is sick and can-
not meet the challenge of existence to any satisfying de-
gree. She cannot win the satisfaction of her environment

136 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

for any time. Her submission, her humility, her self -repres-
sion, is founded on the same revolt as that of her sister of
the first type, a revolt which says clearly enough : * * This is
no happy life ! ' '

The woman who does not defend herself against the
womanly role but carries in herself the torturing con-
sciousness that she is condemned to be an inferior being
and ordained to play a subordinate role in life, makes up
the third type. She is fully convinced of the inferiority of
women, just as she is convinced that man alone is called
upon to do the worth-while things in life. As a consequence,
she approves his privileged position. Thus she swells the
chorus of voices wh,ich sound the praises of man as the
doer and the achiever, and demands a special position
for him. She shows her feeling of weakness as clearly as if
she wanted recognition for it, and demanded additional
support because of it ; but this attitude is the beginning of
a long prepared revolt. By way of revenge she will shift
her marital responsibilities upon her husband with a light-
hearted catchword to the effect that ''Only a man could
do these things !''

Although woman is considered an inferior being, the
business of education is largely delegated to her. Let us
now picture these three types of woman for ourselves with
reference to this most important and difficult task. At this
juncture we can differentiate the types even more clearly.
Women of the first type, the ''masculine" attitude, will
tyrannize, will occupy themselves with punishment, and
thus exercise a tremendous pressure upon children, which
these children will, of course, attempt to avoid. When this
type of education is effective, its best possible result is a
sort of military training which is quite valueless. Children
usually think that mothers of this kind are very bad edu-
cators. The noise, the great to-do, always has a bad effect,

SEX 137

and there arises the danger that girls will be instigated to
imitate them, whereas boys are frightened for the rest of
their lives. Among men who have stood under the domi-
nance of such mothers we shall find a number who avoid
women as much as possible as though they had been inocu-
lated with bitterness, and were incapable of bringing any
sense of trust to a woman. What results is a definite divi-
sion and separation between the sexes, whose pathology
we can readily understand despite the fact that some in-
vestigators still exist who speak of a * 'faulty apportion-
ment of the masculine and feminine elements."

Individuals of the other types are equally futile as edu-
cators. They may be so skeptical that the children soon
discover their lack of self-confidence, and grow beyond
them. In this case the mother renews her efforts, nags and
scolds, and threatens to tell the father. The fact that she
calls upon a masculine educator betrays her again, and
shows her disbelief in the success of her educational ac-
tivity. She deserts from the front in the matter of educa-
tion just as though it were her duty to justify her stand-
point that man alone is capable, and therefore, indispensa-
ble for education ! Such women may simply avoid all edu-
cational efforts, and shift the responsibility therefor upon
their husbands and governesses without compunction, since
they feel they are incapable of any success.

Dissatisfaction with the womanly role is even more evi-
dent among girls who escape from life because of some so-
called ** higher" reasons. Nuns, or others who assume some
occupation for which celibacy is an essential, are a case in
point. Their lack of reconciliation with their role as women
is clearly demonstrated in this gesture. Similarly, many
girls go into business at an early age because the inde-
pendence connected with employment seems a protection
to them against the threatened necessity of marriage. Here

138 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

again the driving power is the disinclination to assume the
womanly role.

What of those cases in which marriage occurs, in which
one could believe that the role of woman had been volun-
tarily assumed? We learn that marriage need not neces-
sarily be an indication that a girl has reconciled herself
with her womanly role. The example of a thirty-six-year-old
woman is typical of this. She comes to the physician com-
plaining of various nervous ills. She was the oldest child
of a marriage between an aging man and a very domineer-
ing woman. The fact that her mother, a very beautiful
young girl, had married an old man leads us to suspect
that in the marriage of the parents the disinclination for
the feminine role played some part. The marriage of the
parents did not turn out happily. The mother ruled the
house with clamor, and insisted upon having her will car-
ried out at all costs, and regardless of anyone else's pleas-
ure. The old man was forced into his corner at every op-
portunity. The daughter narrated how her mother would
not even allow her father to lie down upon the sofa to
rest. Her mother's whole activity consisted in maintaining
certain ** principles of domestic economy" which she felt
were desirable to enforce. These were an absolute law to
the family.

Our patient grew up a very capable child who was much
pampered by the father. On the other hand, her mother
was never satisfied with her and was always her enemy.
Later, when a boy, toward whom the mother was far more
favorable, was born, the relationship became unbearable.
The little girl was conscious that she had a support in her
father, who, no matter how modest and retiring he was in
other things, could take up the cudgel when his daughter's
interests were at stake. Thus she began to hate her mother
cordially.

SEX 139

In this stubborn conflict the cleanliness of the mother
became the daughter's favorite point of attack. The mother
was so pedantic in her cleanliness that she did not even
allow the servant girl to touch a door knob without wiping
it off later. The child made it a point of special pleasure
to go about as dirty and ill clad as possible, and to soil
the house whenever the occasion offered.

She developed all those characteristics which were the
exact opposite of that which her mother expected of her.
This fact speaks very clearly against any inherited charac-
teristics. If a child develops only those characteristics
which must anger her mother almost to death, there is
either a conscious or unconscious plan underlying them.
The hate between mother and child has lasted until the
present day, and a more bitter belligerency could not be
imagined.

When this little girl was eight years old the following
situation existed. The father was permanently on his daugh-
ter *s side ; her mother went about with a bitter face, making
pointed remarks, enforcing her ** rules," and reproaching
the girl. The girl, embittered and belligerent, availed her-
self of an extraordinary sarcasm which crippled the activ-
ity of her mother. An additional complicating factor was
the valvular heart disease of the younger brother who was
his mother's favorite and a very much pampered child,
who used his sickness to hold the attentions of his mother
to an even more intensive degree. One could observe the con-
stantly thwarted activities of the parents toward their
children. Under such circumstances did this little girl grow
up.

It then occurred that she fell sick of a nervous ailment
which no one could explain. Her sickness consisted in the
fact that she was tortured by evil thoughts which were
directed against her mother, the consequence of which was

140 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

that she felt herself hindered in all her activities. Finally
she occupied herself very deeply, and suddenly, and with-
out success, in religion. After some time these evil thoughts
disappeared. Some medicine or other was given the credit
for the disappearance, although it is more probable that
her mother was forced into the defensive. A residue which
expressed itself in a remarkable fear of thunder and
lightning remained.

The little girl believed that the thunder and lightning
came only as a result of her bad conscience, and would some
day cause her death because she had such evil thoughts.
One can see how the child was attempting to free herself
of its hate for its mother at this time. The development of
the child went further, and it seemed that a bright future
was beckoning her. The statement of a teacher who said:
*'This little girl could do anything that she wanted to!"
had a great effect on her. These words are unimportant in
themselves but for this girl they meant, ''I can accomplish
something if I wish.'' This realization was followed by an
even greater intensity in the combat against her mother.

Adolescence came, and she grew up into a beautiful
young woman, became marriageable, and had many suit-
ors ; yet all opportunities of a relationship were broken
off because of the peculiar sharpness of her tongue. She
felt herself drawn only to one man, an elderly man who
lived in her neighborhood, and everyone feared that some
day she might marry him. But this man moved after some
time and the girl remained, until she was twenty six years
old, without a suitor. In the circles in which she moved this
was very remarkable, and no one could explain it because
no one understood her history. In the bitter battle which
she had been carrying on against her mother ever since her
childhood, she had become unbearably quarrelsome. War
was her victory. The behavior of her mother had con-

SEX 141

stantly irritated this child and caused her to seek for fresh
triumphs. A bitter word-battle was her greatest happiness ;
in this she showed her vanity. Her *' masculine" attitude
expressed itself also in that she desired such word battles
only where she could conquer her opponent.

"When she was twenty-six years old she made the acquain-
tance of a very honorable man who did not allow himself to
be repulsed by her belligerent character and paid court to
her very earnestly. He was very humble and submissive in
his approach. Pressure from her relatives to marry this
man led her to explain repeatedly that he was so very un-
pleasant to her that she could not think of marriage with
him. This is not hard to understand when we know her
character, yet after two years of resistance she finally ac-
cepted him in the deep conviction that she had made a
slave of him, and that she could do with this man whatever
she wished. She had hoped secretly that she would find in
him a second edition of her father, who would give in to her
whenever she wanted.

She soon learned that she had made a mistake. A few
days after her marriage her husband was sitting in the
room smoking his pipe and comfortably reading his paper.
In the morning he left for his office, came home punctually
for his meals, and grumbled a little if his meals were not
ready. He demanded cleanliness, tenderness, punctuality,
and all manner of unjustified requests which she was not
prepared to fulfil. The relationship was not even remotely
similar to that which she had experienced between herself
and her father. She tumbled out of all her dreams. The
more she demanded, the less her husband acceded to her
wishes, and the more he indicated her domestic role to her,
the less he saw of her domestic activity. She did not lose
the opportunity to remind him daily that he really had no
right to make these requests, as she had expressly told him

142 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

that she did not like him. This made absolutely no impres-
sion upon him. He continued his demands with an in-
exorableness which caused her to have very unhappy pros-
pects for the future. In an intoxication of self-effacement
this righteous, dutiful man had wooed her, but no sooner
did he have her in his possession, than his intoxication had
disappeared.

No change in the lack of harmony which existed between
them appeared when she became a mother. She was forced
to assume new duties. In the meantime her relationship to
her own mother, who was energetically taking up the cudg-
els for her son-in-law, became worse and worse. The con-
stant warfare in her house was carried on with such heavy
artillery that it is not to be wondered that her husband
occasionally acted badly, and without consideration, and
that occasionally the woman was right in her complaints.
The behavior of her husband was the direct consequence of
the fact that she was unapproachable, which, again, was a
result of her lack of recjonciliation with her womanliness.
She had believed originally that she could play her role
of empress forever, that she could wander through life sur-
rounded by a slave who would carry out all her wishes.
Life would have been possible for her only under these
circumstances.

"What could she do now ? Should she divorce her husband
and return to her mother and declare herself beaten? She
was incapable of leading an independent life for she had
never been prepared for it. A divorce would have been an
insult to her pride and vanity. Life was misery for her;
on the one hand her husband criticised her, and on the
other side stood her mother with her heavy guns, preach-
ing cleanliness and order.

Suddenly she, too, became cleanly and orderly! She did
washing and polishing and cleaning the whole day. It

SEX 143

seemed as though she had finally seen the light, and had
acquired the teachings which her mother had drummed into
her ears for so many years. In the beginning her mother
must have smiled, and her husband must have been pleased
at this sudden change of affairs, at the sight of this young
woman emptying and cleaning bureaus, cabinets, .and clos-
ets. But one can carry a thing like this too far. She washed
and scoured so long, until there was not an unscrubbed
shred in the house, and her zeal was so apparent that she
was disturbed by everyone in her efforts; and in turn
disturbed everyone else in her zeal. If she washed some-
thing and another touched it, then she would have to wash
it again, and only she could do it.

The disease which manifests itself in continual washing
and cleaning is an extraordinarily frequent occurrence in
women who are belligerent against their womanliness and
attempt in this fashion to elevate themselves by their com-
plete virtue in cleanliness, over those who do not wash
themselves so frequently. Unconsciously all these efforts
are aimed solely at exploding the entire household. Few
households were ever more disorderly than the household
of this woman. Not cleanliness, but the discomfiture of her
entire household, was her goal.

"We could tell of very many cases in which a reconciliation
with the role of being a woman was only apparently true.
That our patient had no friends among women, could get
along with no one, and knew no consideration for another
human being, fits very well into the pattern which we
might have expected in her life.

It will be necessary for us to evolve better methods of
educating girls in the future, so that they shall be better
prepared to reconcile themselves with life. Under the most
favorable circumstances it is occasionally impossible to
effect this reconciliation with life, as in this case. The al-

144 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

leged inferiority of woman is maintained in our age by law
and tradition, thougli it is denied by anyone with a real
psychological insight. We must therefore be on the watch
to recognize and counter the whole technique of society's
mistaken behavior in this connection. We must take up the
battle not because we have some pathologically exaggerated
respect for woman, but because the present fallacious at-
titude negates the logic of our whole social life.

Let us take this occasion to discuss another relationship
which is often used in order to degrade woman: the so-
called ** dangerous age,'' that period which occurs about
the fiftieth year, accompanied by the accentuation of cer-
tain character traits. Physical changes serve to indicate to
woman in the menopause that the bitter time in which she
must lose forever that little semblance of significance which
she has so laboriously built up during the course of her life,
has come. Under these circumstances she searches with re-
doubled efforts for any instrument which will be useful in
maintaining her position, now grown more precarious than
ever before. Our civilization is dominated by a principle
in which present performance alone is a source of value;
every aging individual, but especially a woman who is
growing old, experiences difficulties at this time. The dam-
age which is done to an aging woman by entirely under-
mining her value affects every human being, in so far as we
cannot count our worth solely from day to day in the prime
of life. What one has accomplished at the height of his ac-
tivities must be credited to him during the years in which
his powers and activity are of necessity lessened. It is not
right to exclude someone entirely from the spiritual and
material relationships of society simply because he is grow-
ing old. In the case of a woman this amounts to a virtual
degradation and enslavement. Imagine the anxiety of an
adolescent girl who thinks of this epoch in her life which

SEX 146

lies in her future. Womanliness is not extinguished with
the fiftieth year. The honor and worth of a human being
lasts unaltered beyond this age. And it must be guaran-
teed.

V. Tension between the Sexes

The foundations of all these unhappy manifestations are
built upon the mistakes of our civilization. If our civiliza-
tion is marked by a prejudice, then this prejudice reaches
out and touches every aspect of that civilization, and is to
be found in its every manifestation. The fallacy of the in-
feriority of woman, and its corollary, the superiority of
man, constantly disturbs the harmony of the sexes. As a re-
sult, an unusual tension is introduced into all erotic rela-
tionships, thereby threatening, and often entirely annihilat-
ing, every chance for happiness between the sexes. Our
whole love life is poisoned, distorted, and corroded by this
tension. This explains why one so seldom finds a harmoni-
ous marriage, this is the reason so many children grow up
in the feeling that marriage is something extremely difficult
and dangerous.

Prejudices such as we have described above prevent
children, to a large measure, from understanding life ade-
quately. Think of the numerous young girls who consider
marriage only as a sort of emergency exit out of life, and
think of those men and women who see in marriage only a
necessary evil! The difficulties which originally grew out
of this tension between the sexes have assumed gigantic
proportions today. They become greater and greater the
more clearly a girl acquires the tendency to avoid the sexual
role which society compels her to assume and the more, in
the case of a man, there is a desire to play the privileged
role despite all the false logic in such behavior.

146 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

Comradeship is the characteristic index of a true recon-
ciliation with the sexual role, of a veritable equilibrium be-
tween the sexes. A subordination of one individual to an-
other in sexual relationships is just as unbearable as in the
life of nations. Everyone should consider this problem very
attentively since the difficulties which may arise for each
partner from a mistaken attitude are considerable. This
is an aspect of our life which is so widespread and impor-
tant that every one of us is involved in it. It becomes the
more complicated since in our day a child is forced into
a behavior pattern which is a depreciation and negation of
the other sex.

A calm education certainly could overcome these dif-
ficulties, but the hurry of our days, the lack of really
proved and tested educational methods, and particularly
the competitive nature of our whole life which reaches even
into the nursery, determine only too harshly the tendencies
of later life. The fear which causes so many human beings
to shrink from assuming any love relationships is caused
largely by the useless pressure which forces every man to
prove his masculinity under all circumstances, even though
he must do it by treachery and malice or force.

That this serves to destroy all candor and trust in the
love relationships is self -understood. The Don Juan is a
man who doubts his own manliness, and is seeking constant
additional evidence for it, in his conquests. The distrust
which is so universal between the sexes prevents all frank-
ness, and humanity as a whole suffers as a consequence.
The exaggerated masculine ideal signifies a constant chal-
lenge, a constant spur, a restlessness whose results naturally
are only vanity and self enrichment, maintenance of the
** privileged " attitude; and all these of course, are con-
trary to a healthy communal life. We have no reason to
combat the former purposes of the emancipation-for-

SEX 147

"women movements. It is our duty to support them in their
efforts to gain freedom and equality, because finally the
happiness of the whole of humanity depends upon effect-
ing such conditions that a woman will be enabled to be
reconciled with her womanly role, just as the possibility
of a man's adequate solution of his relationship to woman,
likewise depends upon it.

VI. Attempts at Eeform

Of all the institutions which have been developed to
better the relationship between the sexes, co-education is the
most important. This institution is not universally accepted ;
it has its opponents, and its friends. Its friends maintain
as their most powerful argument that, through co-educa-
tion, the two sexes have an opportunity to become ac-
quainted with one another at an early date and that
through this acquaintanceship the fallacious prejudices,
and their disastrous consequences, can be prevented in a
measure. The opponents usually counter that boys and girls
are already so different at the time that they enter school
that their co-education results only in accentuating these
differences, because the boys feel themselves under pres-
sure. This occurs because the spiritual development of girls
advances more quickly than that of boys during the school
years. These boys, under the necessity of carrying their
privilege and giving evidence of the fact that they are
more capable, must suddenly recognize that their privilege
is only a soap bubble which in reality bursts very easily.
Other investigators have maintained that in co-education
boys become anxious in front of girls, and lose their self-
esteem.

There is no doubt that some measure of truth lies in these
arguments, but they hold water only when we consider

148 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

co-education in the sense of competition between the sexes,
for the prize of greater talent and capability. If that is
what co-education means to teachers and pupils, it is a dam-
aging doctrine. If we cannot find any teachers who have a
better notion of co-education, that is, that it represents a
training and preparation for future cooperation between
the sexes in communal tasks, then every attempt at co-
education must fail. Its opponents will see but an affirma-
tion of their attitude in its failure.

It would require the creative power of a poet to give
an adequate picture of this whole situation. We must be
content to indicate only the main points. An adolescent girl
acts very much as though she were inferior, and what we
have said concerning the compensation of organic inferiori-
ties holds equally well for her. The difference is this : the
belief in her inferiority is forced upon a girl by her en-
vironment. She is so irrevocably guided into this channel
of behavior that even investigators with a great deal of
insight have from time to time fallen into the fallacy of
believing in her inferiority. The universal result of this
fallacy is that both sexes have finally fallen into the hasty
pudding of prestige politics, and each tries to play a role
for which he is not suited. What happens ? Both their lives
become complicated, their relationships are robbed of all
candor, they become surfeited with fallacies and prejudices,
in the face of which all hope of happiness vanishes.

CHAPTER VIII

THE FAMILY CONSTELLATION

We have often drawn attention to the fact that before
we can judge a human being we must know the situation
in which he grew up. An important moment is the position
which a child occupied in his family constellation. Fre-
quently we can catalogue human beings according to this
view point after we have gained sufficient expertness, and
can recognize whether an individual is a first-born, an only
child, the youngest child, or the like.

People seem to have known for a long time that the
youngest child is usually a peculiar type. This is evidenced
by the countless fairy tales, legends, Biblical stories, in
which the youngest always appears in the same light. As
a matter of fact he does grow up in a situation quite dif-
ferent from that of all other people, for to parents he
represents a particular child, and as the youngest he ex-
periences an especially solicitous treatment. Not only is he
the youngest, but also usually the smallest, and by con-
sequence, the most in need of help. His other brothers and
sisters have already acquired some degree of independence
and growth during the time of his weakness, and for this
reason he usually grows up in an atmosphere warmer than
that which the others have experienced.

Hence there arise a number of characteristics which in-
fluence his attitude toward life in a remarkable way, and
cause him to be a remarkable personality. One circumstance
which seemingly is a contradiction for our theory must be

149

150 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

noted. No child likes to be the smallest, the one whom
one does not trust, the one in whom one has no confidence,
all the time. Such knowledge stimulates a child to prove
that he can do everjrthing. His striving for power becomes
markedly accentuated and we find the youngest very
usually a man who has developed a desire to overcome all
others, satisfied only with the very best.

This type is not uncommon. One group of these youngest
children excels every other member of the family, and be-
comes the family's most capable member. But there is an-
other more unfortunate group of these same youngest
children; they also have a desire to excel, but lack the
necessary activity and self-confidence, as a result of their
relationships to their older brothers and sisters. If the
older children are not to be excelled, the youngest fre-
quently shies from his tasks, becomes cowardly, a chronic
plaintiff forever seeking an excuse to evade his duties. He
does not become less ambitious, but he assumes that type
of ambition which farces him to wriggle out of situations,
and satisfy his ambition in activity outside of the neces-
sary problems of life, to the end that he may avoid the
danger of an actual test of ability, so far as possible.

It will undoubtedly have occurred to many readers that
the youngest child acts as though he were neglected and
carried a feeling of inferiority within him. In our investiga-
tions we have always been able to find this feeling of in-
feriority and have been able also to deduce the quality and
fashion of his psychic development from the presence of
this torturing sentiment. In this sense a youngest child is
like a child who has come into the world with weak organs.
"What the child feels need not actually be the case. It does
not matter what really has happened, whether an individ-
ual is really inferior or not. What is important is his
interpretation of his situation. We know very well that mis-

THE FAMILY CONSTELLATION 151

takes are easily made in childhood. At that time a child is
faced with a great number of questions, of possibilities, and
consequences.

What shall an educator do? Shall he impose additional
stimuli by spurring on the vanity of this child? Should he
constantly push him into the limelight so that he is always
the first? This would be a feeble response to the challenge
of life. Experience teaches us that it makes very little dif-
ference whether one is first or not. It would be better to
exaggerate in the other direction, and maintain that being
first, or the best, is unimportant. We are really tired of
having nothing but the first and best people. History as well
as experience demonstrates that happiness does not consist
in being the first or best. To teach a child such a principle
makes him one-sided ; above all it robs him of his chance of
being a good fellow-man.

The first consequence of such doctrines is that a child
thinks only of himself and occupies himself in wondering
whether someone will overtake him. Envy and hate of his
fellows and anxiety for his own position, develop in his
soul. His very place in life makes a speeder trying to beat
out all others, of the youngest. The racer, the marathon
runner in his soul, is betrayed by his whole behavior, es-
pecially in little gestures which are not obvious to those who
have not learned to judge his psychic life in all his rela-
tionships. These are the children, for instance, who always
march at the head of the procession and cannot bear to
have anyone in front of them. Some such race-course atti-
tude is characteristic of a large number of children.

This type of the youngest child is occasionally to be
found as a clear cut type example although variations are
common. Among the youngest we find active and capable
individuals who have gone so far that they have become the
saviors of their whole family. Consider the Biblical story

152 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

of Joseph ! Here is a wonderful exposition of the situation
of the youngest son. It is as though the past had told us
about it with a purpose and a clarity arising in the full
possession of the evidence which we acquire so laboriously
today. In the course of the centuries much valuable mate-
rial has been lost which we must attempt to find again.

Another type, which grows secondarily from the first, is
often found. Consider our marathon runner who suddenly
comes to an obstacle which he does not trust himself to
hurdle. He attempts to avoid the difficulty by going around
it. When a youngest child of this type loses his courage he
becomes the most arrant coward that we can well imagine.
We find him far from the front, every labor seems too much
for him, and he becomes a veritable '* alibi artist" who
attempts nothing useful, but spends his whole energy
wasting time. In any actual conflict he always fails. Usually
he is to be found carefully seeking a field of activity in
which every chance of competition has been excluded. He
will always find excuses for his failures. He may contend
that he was too weak or petted, or that his brothers and
sisters did not allow him to develop. His fate becomes more
bitter if he actually has a physical defect, in which case
he is certain to make capital out of his weakness to justify
him in his desertion.

Both these types are hardly ever good fellow human
beings. The first type fares better in a world where com-
petition is valued for itself. A man of this type will main-
tain his spiritual equilibrium only at the cost of others,
whereas individuals of the second remain under the op-
pressive feeling of their inferiority and suffer from their
lack of reconciliation with life as long as they live.

The oldest child also has well defined characteristics.
For one thing he has the advantage of an excellent position
for the development of his psychic life. History recognizes

THE FAMILY CONSTELLATION 153

that the oldest son has had a particularly favorable posi-
tion. Among many peoples, in many classes, this advan-
tageous status has become traditional. There is no question
for instance that among the European farmers the first born
knows his position from his early childhood and realizes
that some day he will take over the farm, and therefore
he finds himself in a much better position than the other
children who know that they must leave their father's
farm at some time ; in other strata of society it is frequently
held that the oldest son will some day be the head of the
house. Even where this tradition has not actually become
crystallized, as in simple bourgeois or proletarian families,
the oldest child is usually the one whom one accredits with
enough power and common sense to be the helper or fore-
man of his parents. One can imagine how valuable it is
to a child to be constantly entrusted with responsibilities
by his environment. We can imagine that his thought pro-
cesses are somewhat like this: **You are the larger, the
stronger, the older, and therefore you must also be cleverer
than the others."

If his development in this direction goes on without dis-
turbance then we shall find him with the traits of a guard-
ian of law and order. Such persons have an especially high
evaluation of power. This extends not only to their own
personal power, but affects their evaluation of the concepts
of power in general. Power is something which is quite
self -understood for the oldest child, something which has
weight and must be honored. It is not surprising that such
individuals are markedly conservative.

The striving for power in the case of a second born
child also has its especial nuance. Second born children are
constantly under steam, striving for superiority under pres-
sure: the race course attitude which determines their ac-
tivity in life is very evident in their actions. The fact that

154 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

there is someone ahead of him who has already gained
power is a strong stimulus for the second born. If he is
enabled to develop his powers and takes up the battle with
the first born he will usually move forward with a great
deal of elan, the while the first born, possessing power, feels
himself relatively secure until the second threatens to sur-
pass him.

This situation has also been described in a very lively
fashion in the Biblical legend of Esau and Jacob. In this
story the battle goes on relentlessly, not so much for actual
power, but for the semblance of power; in cases like this
it continues with a certain compulsion until the goal is
reached and the first born is overcome, or the battle is lost,
and the retreat, which often evinces itself in nervous
diseases, begins. The attitude of the second born is similar
to the envy of the poor classes. There is a dominant note
of being slighted, neglected, in it. The second born may
place his goal so high that he suffers from it his whole life,
annihilates his inner harmony in following, not the veri-
table facts of life, but an evanescent fiction and the value-
less semblance of things.

The only child of course finds himself in a very particular
situation. He is at the utter mercy of the educational
methods of his environment. His parents, so to speak, have
no choice in the matter. They place their whole educational
zeal upon their only child. He becomes dependent to a high
degree, waits constantly for someone to show him the way,
and searches for support at all times. Pampered through-
out his life, he is accustomed to no difficulties, because one
has always removed difficulties from his way. Being con-
stantly the center of attention he very easily acquires the
feeling that he really counts for something of great value.
His position is so difficult that mistaken attitudes are almost
inevitable in his case. If the parents understand the dangers

THE FAMILY CONSTELLATION 155

of his situation, to be sure, there is a possibility of prevent-
ing many of them, but at best it remains a difficult problem.

Parents of "only'' children are frequently exceptionally
cautious, people who have themselves experienced life as a
great danger, and therefore approach their child with an
inordinate solicitude. The child in turn interprets their
attentions and admonitions as a source of additional pres-
sure. Constant attention to health and well being finally
stimulate him to conceive of the world as a very hostile
place. An eternal fear of difficulties arises in him and he
approaches them in an unpractised and clumsy manner be-
cause he has tested only the pleasant things in life. Such
children have difficulties with every independent activity
and sooner or later they become useless for life. Ship-
wrecks in their life's activity are to be expected. Their
life approaches that of a parasite who does nothing, but
enjoys life while the rest of the world cares for his wants.

Various combinations are possible in which several
brothers and sisters of the same or opposite sexes compete
with each other. The evaluation of any one case therefore
becomes exceedingly difficult. The situation of an only boy
among several girls is a case in point. A feminine influence
dominates such a household and the boy is pushed into the
background, particularly if he is the youngest, and sees
himself opposed by a closed phalanx of women. His striv-
ing for recognition encounters great difficulties. Threatened
on all sides, he never senses with certainty the privilege
which in our retarded masculine civilization is given to
every male. A lasting insecurity, an inability to evaluate
himself as a human being, is his most characteristic trait.
He may become so intimidated by his womenfolk that he
feels that to be a man is equivalent to occupying a posi-
tion of lesser honor. On the one hand his courage and self-
confidence may easily be eclipsed, or on the other the

156 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

stimulus may be so drastic that the young boy forces him-
self to great achievements. Both cases arise from the same
situation. What becomes of such boys in the end is deter-
mined by other concomitant and closely related phenomena.

We see therefore that the very position of the child in
the family may lend shape and color to all the instincts,
tropisms, faculties and the like, which he brings with him
into the world. This affirmation robs of all value the the-
ories of the inheritance of especial traits or talents, which
are so harmful to all educational effort. There are doubtless
occasions and cases in which the effect of hereditary in-
fluences can be shown, as for instance, in a child who grows
up removed entirely from his parents, yet develops certain
similar * 'familial' V traits. This becomes much more com-
prehensible if one remembers how closely certain types of
mistaken development in a child are related to inherited
defects of the body. Take a given child who comes into the
world with a weak body which results, in turn, in his
greater tension toward the demands of life and his en-
vironment. If his father came into the world with similarly
defective organs and approached the world with a similar
tension, it is not to be wondered at that similar mistakes
and character traits should result. Viewed from this stand-
point it would seem to us that the theory of inheritance of
acquired characteristics is based upon very weak evidence.

From our previous descriptions we may assume that
whatever the errors to which a child is exposed in his de-
velopment, the most serious consequences arise from his
desire to elevate himself over all his fellows, to seek more
personal power which will give him advantages over his
fellow man. In our culture he is practically compelled to
develop according to a fixed pattern. If we wish to prevent
such a pernicious development we must know the difficulties
he has to meet and understand them. There is one single

THE FAMILY CONSTELLATION 157

and essential point of view which helps us to overcome all
these difficulties; it is the view-point of the development
of the social feeling. If this development succeeds, obsta-
cles are insignificant, but since the opportunities for this
development are relatively rare in our culture, the diffi-
culties which a child encounters play an important role.
Once this is recognized we shall not be surprised to find
many people who spend their whole life fighting for their
lives and others to whom life is a vale of sorrows. We must
understand that they are the victims of a mistaken develop-
ment whose unfortunate consequence is that their attitude
toward life also is mistaken.

Let us be very modest then, in our judgment of our
fellows, and above all, let us never allow ourselves to make
any moral judgments, judgments concerning the moral
worth of a human being! On the contrary we must make
our knowledge of these facts socially valuable. "We must
approach such a mistaken and misled human being sym-
pathetically, because we are in a position to have a much
better idea of what is going on within him than he is him-
self. This gives rise to important new points of view in the
matter of education. The very recognition of the source of
error puts a great many influential instruments for better-
ment into our hands. By analysing the psychic structure and
development of any human being we understand not only
his past, but may deduce further what his future prob-
ably will be. Thus our science gives us some conception of
what a human being really is. He becomes a living being
for us, not merely a flat silhouette. And as a consequence
we can have a richer and more meaningful sense of his
value as a fellow human than is usual in our day.

BOOK II
THE SCIENCE OF CHARACTER

CHAPTER I

GENERAli CONSIDERATIONS

I. The Nature and Origin of Character

What we call a character trait is the appearance of
some specific mode of expression on the part of an individ-
ual who is attempting to adjust himself to the world in
which he lives. Character is a social concept. We can speak
of a character trait only when we consider the relationship
of an individual to his environment. It would make very
little difference what kind of character Robinson Crusoe
had. Character is a psychic attitude, it is the quality and
nature of an individual's approach to the environment in
which he moves. It is the behavior pattern according to
which his striving for significance is elaborated in the
terms of his social feeling.

We have already seen how the goal of superiority, of
power, of the conquest of others, is the goal which directs
the activity of most human beings. This goal modifies the
world philosophy and the behavior pattern and directs the
various psychic expressions of an individual into specific
channels. Traits of character are only the external mani-
festations of the style of life, of the behavior pattern, of
any individual. As such they enable us to understand his
attitude towards his environment, towards his fellow men,
towards the society in which he lives, and towards the
challenge of existence in general. Character traits are
instruments, the tricks which are used by the total per-
161

162 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

sonality in the acquisition of recognition and significance ;
their configuration in the personality amounts to a ** tech-
nique" in living.

Traits of character are not inherited, as many would
have it, nor are they congenitally present. They are to be
considered as similar to a pattern for existence which en-
ables every human being to live his life and express his
personality in any situation without the necessity of con-
sciously thinking about it. Character traits are not the
expressions of inherited powers nor predispositions but
they are acquired for the purpose of maintaining a partic-
ular habitus in life. A child, for instance, is not born lazy
but is lazy because laziness seems to him the best adapted
means of making life easier, while it enables him at the
same time to maintain his feeling of significance. The
power attitude can be expressed in a certain degree, in the
pattern of laziness. An individual may draw attention to
a congenital defect and thus save his face before a defeat.
The end result of such introspection is always something
like this: *'If I did not have this defect my talents would
develop brilliantly. But unfortunately I have the defect ! ' *
A second individual who is involved in a long-standing war
with his environment because of his undisciplined striving
for power, will develop whatever power expressions are
adequate to his battle, such as ambition, envy, mistrust, and
the like. We believe that such traits of character are in-
distinguishable from the personality, but are not inherited
nor unchangeable. Closer observation shows us that they
have been found necessary and adequate for the behavior
pattern and have been acquired to this end, sometimes very
early in life. They are not primary factors, but secondary
ones, which have been forced into being by the secret goal
of the personality. They must be judged from the stand-
point of teleology.

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 163

Let us recall our previous explanations in which we have
shown how the style of an mdividuars life, his actions, his
behavior, his standpoint in the world, are all closely con-
nected with his goal. We cannot think anything, nor set
anything into motion, without having some distinct pur-
pose in mind. In the dark background of the child's soul
this goal is already present, directing his psychic develop-
ment from his earliest days. It gives form and character to
his life and is responsible for the fact that every individual
is a particular and discreet unity, different from all other
personalities, because all his movements and all the expres-
sions of his life are directed toward a common, unique, goal.
To realize this is to know that we can always recognize a
human being, wherever we find him in the course of his
behavior, once we know his pattern.

So far as psychic phenomena and character traits are
concerned, heredity plays a relatively unimportant role.
There are no points of contact with reality which might
support a theory of inherited acquired traits. Investigate
any particular phenomenon in one's psychic life, and you
arrive at his first day, and it would seem, indeed, as though
everything were inherited. The reason that there are char-
acter traits which are common for a whole family, or a
nation, or a race, lies simply in the fact that one individual
acquires them from another by imitation or by the process
of identifying himself with the other's activity. There are
certain realities, certain peculiarities, expressions and
forms in the physical and psychic life, which have an es-
pecial significance in our civilization for all adolescents.
Their common characteristic is that they stimulate imita-
tion. Thus the thirst for knowledge which is expressed some-
times as a desire to see, can lead to curiosity as a charac-
ter trait in such children as have difficulties with their
optic apparatus, but there is no necessity for the develop-

164 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

ment of this character trait. If the behavior pattern of
this child should demand it, this same thirst for knowledge
might develop into quite another character trait. The same
child might satisfy himself by investigating all things, and
taking them apart, or breaking them into pieces. Or such a
child might, under other circumstances, become a book-
worm.

We may evaluate the mistrust of those who have diffi-
culties in hearing in much the same way. In our civilization
they are exposed to a greater danger and they sense that
danger with a particularly sharpened attention. They are
also exposed to ridicule, degradation, and are frequently
considered as cripples. These are factors of the utmost im-
portance in the development of a mistrustful character.
Since the deaf are excluded from many pleasures, it is not
surprising that they should be hostile to them. But the as-
sumption that they were born with a mistrustful character
would be unwarranted. The theory that criminal character
traits are congenital, is equally fallacious. The argument
that many criminals are to be found in one family may be
effectively countered by drawing attention to the fact that
a tradition and attitude toward the world, and a bad ex-
ample, go hand in hand in these cases. Children in these
families are taught from early childhood the fact that
thievery is a possibility for gaining a livelihood.

The striving for recognition may be considered in much
the same way. Every child is faced with so many obstacles
in life that no child ever grows up without striving for
some form of significance. The form which this striving will
take is interchangeable, and every human being approaches
the problem of his personal significance in an individual
way. The assertion that children are similar to their par-
ents in their character traits, is easily explained by the fact
that the child, in his striving for significance, seizes upon

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 165

the example of those individuals in his environment who
are already significant and demand respect, as an ideal
model. Every generation learns from its ancestors in this
way, and it maintains what it has learned in the greatest
difficulties and complexities to which this striving for
power may lead it.

The goal of superiority is a secret goal. The existence
of a social feeling prevents its frank development. It must
grow in secret and hide itself behind a friendly mask ! We
must reaffirm however that it would not grow with such
tropic luxuriance if we humans understood one another
better. If we could go so far that each of us developed
better eyes and could more transparently view the charac-
ter of his neighbor, then we should not only be able to
protect ourselves better, but simultaneously make it so
difficult for another to express his striving for power,
that it would not pay him to do so. Under such circum-
stances the veiled striving for power would disappear. It
pays us therefore to look into these relationships more
closely and make use of the experimental evidence which
we have won.

We live under such complicated cultural circumstances
that proper schooling for life is made very difficult. The
most important means for the development of psychological
acuity have been denied the people, and up to the present
the only value of schools has been that they have spread
the raw stuff of knowledge before children and allowed
them to eat of it what they could or would, without espe-
cially stimulating their interest in it. And even a sufficient
number of these schools was but a pious wish! The most
important premise for the acquisition of an understand-
ing of human nature has been hitherto much neglected. We
too have learned our standards for measuring human be-
ings in the old schools. Here we have learned to divide

166 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

good from bad, and to distinguish them. What we have not
learned is how to revise our concepts, and consequently we
have carried this defect into life and are laboring under
it to this day.

As grown-ups we are still making use of the prejudices
and fallacies of our childhood as though they were sacred
laws. We are not yet aware that we have been drawn into
the confusion of our complicated culture, that we have
assumed standpoints which a true recognition of things as
they are, would make impossible. In the last analysis, we
go about interpreting everything from the standpoint of
the heightening of our personal self-esteem, to the end that
we become personally more powerful.

II. The Significance of the Social Feeling
FOR THE Development op Character

The social feeling, next to the striving for power, plays
the most important role in the development of character.
It is expressed, just as is the striving for significance, in the
first psychic tendencies of the child, especially in his desire
for contact and tenderness. We have already learned about
the conditions for the development of the social feeling in
a previous paragraph, and we wish merely to recall them
briefly. The social feeling is influenced both by the feeling
of inferiority and its compensatory striving for power.
Human beings are very sensitive media for the develop-
ment of inferiority complexes of all kinds. The process of
psychic life, the disquiet that seeks for compensations, that
demands security and totality, begins as soon as the feeling
of inferiority appears, for the purpose of securing peace
and happiness in life. The rules of conduct which we must
maintain toward a child grow out of our recognition of his
feeling of inferiority. These rules may be summed up with

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 167

the admonition that we must not make life too bitter for a
child, and that we must prevent him from learning the
dark side of existence too quickly; and that we must also
give him the possibility of experiencing the joy of living.
A second group of conditions, which are of an economic
nature, comes into play here. Unfortunately, children often
grow up in circumstances which are unnecessarily bitter;
misunderstanding, poverty, and want, are phenomena
which may be prevented. Bodily defects play an important
role because they can cause a normal style of life to be
impossible and teach a child that he needs special privileges
and particular laws in order to maintain his existence.
Even if we had all these things in our power, we could not
prevent the fact that such children would experience life
as an unpleasant difficulty and this in turn gives rise to the
great danger that their social feeling will become distorted.
We cannot judge a human being except by using the
concept of the social feeling as a standard, and measuring
his thought and action according to it. We must maintain
this standpoint, because every individual within the body
of human society must affirm the connectedness of that
society. The necessity causes us to recognize more or less
clearly, what we owe our fellow-men. We are in the very
midst of life and are dominated by the logic of communal
existence. This determines the fact that we need certain
known criteria for the evaluation of our fellows. The
degree to which the social feeling has developed in any
individual is the sole criterion of human values, univer-
sally valid. We cannot deny our psychic dependency upon
the social feeling. There is no human being who is capable
of actually breaking off his social feeling in its entirety.
There are no words with which we could entirely escape
our duties to our fellow-man. The social feeling constantly
reminds us with its warning voice. This does not mean that

168 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

we constantly have the social feeling in our conscious
thought, but we do maintain that a certain mobilization of
power is required to distort it, to set it aside ; and further,
its universal necessity permits no one to begin an action
without first being justified by this social feeling. The need
for justifying each act and thought originates in the un-
conscious sense of social unity. At the very least it deter-
mines the fact that we frequently must seek extenuating
circumstances for our actions. Herein originates the special
technique of life, of thinking and acting, which causes us
to wish to remain constantly in rapport with the social
feeling, or at the very least, to delude ourselves with the
semblance of social connectedness. In short, these explana-
tions show that there is something like a mirage of the social
feeling, which acts as a veil cloaking certain tendencies.
The discovery of these tendencies alone would give us a
correct evaluation of an action or an individual. That such
deception may occur, increases the difficulty in evaluating
the social feeling; it is this very difficulty which raises
the understanding of human nature to the plane of a
science. We shall now show several examples which dem-
onstrate how the social feeling may be misused.

A young man once narrated that he swam out to an
island in the sea with some of his comrades and spent some
time there. It happened that one of his comrades, leaning
over the edge of a cliff, lost his balance and fell into the
sea. Our young man leaned over, and with great curiosity
watched his comrade go under. As he later thought about
this event it occurred to him that he had not considered
his act as being curious. It happened that the young man
who fell into the sea was saved, but as far as the narrator
of the story is concerned, we can affirm that his social feel-
ing must have been very small. We shall not be deceived
into believing that his social feeling is not deficient if

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 169

we were to hear that he has never harmed anyone, in all
his life, and has occasionally been on friendly terms with
a comrade.

This daring assumption must be reinforced by further
facts. The content of a frequently recurring day-dream of
this young man was that he found himself shut off from
all human beings in a pretty little house in the midst of a
forest. This picture was also his favorite motif for his
drawings. Whoever understands fantasies and also knows
his previous history, will easily recognize his deficient social
feeling reaffirmed in his dream. We shall not be doing him
an injustice if, without any moral judgment, we point
out that he has been the victim of a mistaken development
which had obstructed the evolution of his social feeling.

There is an anecdote which may well serve to show the
difference between true and false social feeling. An old
lady while attempting to board a street car, slipped and
fell into the snow. She could not arise, and a number of
people hurried past her without noticing her plight, until
a man stepped to her side, and helped her up. At this
moment another man, who had been hidden somewhere,
jumped to her side and greeted her chivalrous savior with
these words: *' Thank God! I have finally found a decent
man. I have been standing here for five minutes, waitiug to
see whether someone would help the old lady up. You are
the first one to do it!" This incident shows how the sem-
blance of a social feeling may be misused. By this palpable
trick one man has set himself up as a judge of others, dis-
tributes praise and blame, but has not lifted a finger him-
self to help a situation of which he was a witness.

There are other more complicated cases in which it is not
easy to decide how great or how little the social feel-
ing is. Nothing remains but to investigate them radically.
Once this is done we do not long remain in the dark. There

170 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

is the case, for instance, of a General who, although he knew
a battle already half lost, forced thousands of soldiers to
die unnecessarily. This General certainly said he was
acting in the interests of the nation, and many people
agreed with him. Yet it would be difficult to consider him
a real fellow man, whatever reasons he may have brought
to justify himself.

In these uncertain cases we need a standpoint which is
universally applicable in order to judge correctly. For
us such a standpoint can be found in the concept of social
usefulness and the general well-being of humanity, the
*' common weal." If we assume this standpoint we shall
only very rarely have difficulty in deciding a particular case.

The degree of the social feeling shows itself in an in-
dividual's every activity. It may be very obvious in his
external expressions, as, for instance, the way he looks at
another person, his manner of shaking hands, or of speak-
ing. His whole personality may give an indelible impres-
sion, one way or another, which we sense almost intui-
tively. Occasionally we draw such far-reaching conclu-
sions unconsciously from the behavior of a man, that our
own attitude is quite dependent upon them. In these dis-
cussions we are doing little else than bringing this intui-
tive knowledge into the sphere of consciousness, and thus
enabling ourselves to test and evaluate it, to the end
that we may avoid making great mistakes. The value of
this transference into consciousness lies in that we lay
ourselves less open to false prejudices (which are active
when we allow our judgments to be formed in the uncon-
scious where we cannot control our activities and have no
opportunity to make revisions) .

Let us reaffirm that an evaluation of a man's character
must be made solely when his context, his environment, is

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 171

known. If we wrench single phenomena from his life and
judge them singly, as one might if one considered his physi-
cal status alone, or solely his environment, or education,
we are inevitably forced into erroneous conclusions. This
thesis is valuable because it immediately removes a great
load from the shoulders of mankind. A better knowledge
of ourselves must, with our technique of living, result in
a behavior pattern more appropriate to our needs. It be-
comes possible by applying our method, to influence others,
especially children, for the better, and prevent the inexor-
able consequences of the blind fate which might other-
wise overtalce them. Thus it will no longer be necessary for
an individual to be condemned to an unhappy fate simply
because he originated in an unfortunate family, or hered-
itarj^, situation. Let us accomplish this alone, and our
civilization will have taken a decided step in advance! A
new generation will grow up courageously conscious that
it is master of its own fate !

III. The Direction of Character Development

Any character traits which are conspicuous in a per-
sonality must be appropriate to the direction which his
psychic development has taken from childhood. This direc-
tion may be a straight line or it may be marked by shunts
and detours. In the first instance, a child strives for the
realization of his goal along a direct line, and develops an
aggressive, courageous character. The beginnings of charac-
ter development usually are marked by such active, ag-
gressive, traits. But this line is easily diverted or modified.
Difficulties may be inherent in the greater resistive pow-
ers of the child's opponents, who prevent the child from
gaining his goal of superiority by straight-forward at-
tack. The child will attempt in some way to circumvent

172 UNDERSTANDING HUIVIAN NATURE

these difficulties. His detour, again, will determine specific
character traits. Other difficulties in development of the
character, such as the deficient development of organs, re-
pulses and defeats at the hands of his environment, have a
similar effect upon him. Further, the influence of that
greater environment, the world, the teacher who cannot be
avoided, is of great importance. The business of living in
our civilization, as expressed in the demands, doubts, and
emotions of a child's teachers, ultimately affects his charac-
ter. All education takes on the color and the attitude best
calculated to develop a pupil in the direction of the social
life and the prevailing culture of his times.

Obstacles of every sort are dangerous for a straight -line
development of character. Where they are present, the
paths by which a child will seek to accomplish his goal of
power will deviate to a greater or lesser degree from the
straight line. In the first case the attitude of the child will
be undisturbed, and he will approach his difficulties di-
rectly, whereas in the second case we have the picture of
an entirely different child, a child who has learned that
fire burns, that there are opponents in whose presence one
must be careful. He will attempt to attain his goal of rec-
ognition and power along psychic detours, not directly, but
by craft. His development is relative to the degree of such
deviations. Whether or not he is over-cautious, whether or
not he finds himself in tune with the necessities of life, or
whether or not he has avoided these necessities, will depend
upon the afore-mentioned factors. If he will not approach
his tasks and problems directly, if he becomes cowardly
and timid, refuses to look another straight in the eye, or to
speak the truth, it is solely another type of child : his goal
is identical with that of the courageous child. If two peo-
ple act differently, their goal may nevertheless be the same !

Both types of character development may exist to a cer-

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 173

tain degree in the same individual. This occurs especially
when the child has not crystallized his trends too sharply,
when his principles are still elastic, when he does not al-
ways assume the same path, but retains sufficient initiative
to look for another approach if the first attempt proves
inadequate.

An undisturbed communal social life is the first premise
for an adaptation to the demands of the community. One
can easily teach a child this adaptation so long as he is
not in a belligerent attitude toward his environment. War
within the family may be eliminated only when the educa-
tors are capable of minimizing their own striving for
power to such a degree that it does not act as a burden
upon a child. If in addition, the parents understand the
principles of a child's development, they can avoid the de-
velopment of straight line character traits into their ex-
aggerated forms, as the degeneration of courage into im-
pudence, of independence into raw egoism. Similarly they
will be able to avoid any external, forcibly produced
authority, from producing signs of servile obedience. Perni-
cious training of this sort may otherwise cause the child
to be shut in, afraid of the truth, and the consequences of
frankness. Pressure, when used in education, is a double-
edged sword. It produces the semblance of adaptation.
Compulsive obedience is only apparent obedience. The re-
flection of the general relationships of the child to his en-
vironment is to be found in his soul. Whether all the con-
ceivable obstacles which may be present act directly or in-
directly upon him will also be reflected in his personality.
A child is usually incapable of exercising any critique of
outside influences ; and his adult environment either knows
nothing of them or cannot understand them. The constel-
lation of his difficulties, plus his reaction to his obstacles,
constitutes his personality.

174 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

There is another scheme according to which we can
catalogue human beings. The criterion is the manner iri
which they approach difficulties. In the first place there are
the optimists, who are individuals whose character develop-
ment, by and large, has been in a direct line. They approach
all difficulties courageously and do not take them too seri-
ously. They maintain their belief in themselves and assume
a happy attitude toward life with comparative ease. They
do not demand too much of life because they have a good
evaluation of themselves, and do not consider themselves
neglected or insignificant. Thus they are able to bear the
difficulties of life more easily than others who find in dif-
ficulties only further justification for believing themselves
weak and inadequate. In the more difficult situations the
optimists remain quiet in the conviction that mistakes can
always be rectified.

Optimists may immediately be recognized by their man-
ner. They are not afraid, they speak openly and freely,
and are neither too modest nor too inhibited. Were we to
describe them in plastic terms we would show them with
open arms, ready to receive their fellow-men. They make
contacts with others easily and have no difficulty in mak-
ing friends, because they are not mistrustful. Their speech
is not hindered; their attitude, their carriage, their gait,
is natural and easy. Pure examples of this type are sel-
dom found except in the first years of childhood ; there are
however, many degrees of optimism and of ability to make
social contacts with which we can well be satisfied.

Quite a different type are the pessimists. It is with them
that we have the greatest problems of education. These are
the individuals who have acquired an ** inferiority com-
plex" as a result of the experiences and impressions of their
childhood, for whom all manner of difficulties have vouch-
safed the feeling that life is not easy. They always look for

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 175

the dark side of life as a result of their pessimistic per-
sonal philosophy, which has been nourished by false treat-
ment in their childhood. They are much more conscious of
the difficulties of life than are the optimists, and it is easy
for them to lose their courage. Tortured by a feeling of
insecurity, they are constantly seeking for support. Their
cry for help is echoed in their external behavior, because
they cannot stand alone; if they are children, they per-
sistently call to their mothers, or cry for them as soon as
separated. This cry for their mothers can sometimes be
heard even in their old age.

The abnormal cautiousness of this type can be seen in
their timid, and fearful, external attitude. The pessimists
are forever reckoning with the possible dangers which they
imagine immediately in the offing. Obviously individuals
of this type sleep badly. Sleep, as a matter of fact, is an
excellent standard for measuring the development of a
human being, for sleep disturbances are an index of greater
cautiousness in the face of a feeling of insecurity. It is as
though these human beings were ever on guard in order
to better defend themselves against the menace of life. How
little joy in life, and what poor understanding of it, is to
be found in this type! An individual who cannot sleep
well has developed but a poor technique of living. Were he
really correct in his conclusions, he would not dare to sleep
at all. If life were as bitter as he believes it, then sleep ac-
tually were a very poor arrangement. In the tendency
to approach these natural phenomena of life in a hostile
manner the pessimist betrays his unpreparedness for liv-
ing. Sleep itself need not be disturbed. We may suspect
this same pessimistic tendency when we find an individual
constantly occupied with investigating whether the doors
of his room have been carefully locked, or filling his sleep
with dreams of burglars and robbers. Indeed, the type may

176 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

be recognized by the posture which it assumes in sleeping.
Very often individuals who belong to this group curl up into
the smallest possible space or sleep with the. covers drawn
up over their heads.

Human beings may also be divided into assailants and
defendants. The assailant attitude is characterized by vio-
lent movements. People of the aggressive type, when they
are courageous, elevate courage into f oolhardiness, in order
to vehemently attest their capabilities to the world, thus
betraying the deep feeling of insecurity which rules them.
If they are anxious they attempt to harden themselves
against fear. They play the ** manly '^ role to a ludicrous
degree. Others go to great pains to suppress all feelings of
tenderness and softness because such feelings appear as
signs of weakness to them. The aggressives show traits of
brutality and cruelty, and, should they tend to pessimism,
all the relationships to environment are changed, for they
have neither the ability to sympathize nor to cooperate, be-
ing hostile to the whole world. Their conscious sense of their
own value may at the same time have reached a very high
degree. They may be puffed up with pride and arrogance
and a feeling of their own worth. They exhibit their vani-
ties as though they were actually conquerors, yet the ob-
viousness with which they do all this, and the superfluity
of their movements, not only causes a disharmony in their
relation to the world, but also betrays their whole character,
an artificial superstructure based upon an insecure shift-
ing foundation. Their aggressive attitude, which may last
for a long time, originates in this manner.

Their subsequent development is not easy. Human soci-
ety does not look with favor upon such beings. The very
fact that they are so much in evidence makes them dis-
liked. In their persistent efforts to win the upper hand, they

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 177

soon find themselves in conflict, especially with others of
their own type, whose competition they awaken. Life be-
comes a chain of battles for them; and when they suffer
the defeats which are unavoidable, their whole line of tri-
umph and victory comes to an abrupt end. They are easily
frightened, cannot sustain their powers for long conflicts,
and are unable to recoup their defeats.

Their failure to accomplish their tasks has a retroactive
influence upon them and their development stops approx-
imately at that place w^here another type, that type which
feels itself assailed, begins. Individuals of the second type
are the assailed, constantly on the defense. They compen-
sate for their feeling of insecurity, not along the line of
aggression, but by means of anxiety, precaution, and cow-
ardice. "We may be certain that this second attitude never
occurs v/ithout the previous, and unsuccessful, maintenance
of the aggressive attitude which we have just described.
The defendant type is quickly appalled by unfortunate ex-
periences. From these they deduce such annihilating con-
sequences that they are easily thrown into flight. Occasion-
ally they succeed in disguising their defection by acting as
though a useful piece of work lay along the line of retreat.

Thus when they occupy themselves with remembrances,
and develop their fantasy, they actually seek only to avoid
the reality which threatens them. Some of them when they
have not entirely lost their initiative may actually accom-
plish something which may not be without general useful-
ness for society. Many artists belong to this type. They
have withdrawn themselves from reality and built them-
selves a second world in the realm of fantasy and ideals,
in which there are no barriers. These artists are the excep-
tions to the rule. Individuals of this type usually capitulate
to difficulties and suffer defeat after defeat. They fear

178 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

everything and everybody, become increasingly distrustful,
and await nothing but hostility on the part of the world.

In our civilization unfortunately their attitude is all
too frequently reinforced by the bad experiences at the
hands of others ; soon they lose all belief in the good quali-
ties of human beings and in the brighter side of life. One
of the most common and characteristic traits of such in-
dividuals is their external critical attitude. So accentuated
does this become at times, that they are quick to recognize
the most insignificant defect in others. They set themselves
up as judges of humanity without ever doing anything
useful themselves for those with whom they live. They busy
themselves in criticising and spoiling the other fellow's
game. Their mistrust forces them into an anxious, hesitat-
ing attitude, yet no sooner are they faced with a task than
they begin to doubt and to hesitate, as though they wished
to avoid every decision. If we want to portray this type
gjonbolically, we can do so by imagining a man with one
hand raised to defend himself and the other covering his
eyes, so that he may not see the danger.

Such individuals have other unpleasant character traits.
It is well known that those who do not trust themselves
never trust others. Envy and avarice are inevitably devel-
oped by such an attitude. The isolation in which such
doubters live usually signifies their disinclination to pre-
pare pleasures for others, or to join in the happiness of
their fellows. Moreover, the happiness of strangers is well-
nigh painful to them. Certain members of this group may
succeed in maintaining a feeling of their own superiority
over the rest of mankind by a trick which is so effective thaf
it is difficult to destroy. In their desire to maintain their su-
periority at all costs they may develop a behavior pattern
so complicated that, at first glance, one would never suspect
them of an essential hostility to mankind.

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 179

IV. The Old School of Psychology

It is true that one can attempt to understand human
nature without being consciously aware of the direction
which this research takes. The usual method is to take a
single point out of the context of pyschic development, and
set up ''types'' according to which one can orient himself.
One could, for instance, divide human beings into those
who are more given to meditation and reflection, who live
in the life of fantasy, who are foreign to the actualities of
life. Individuals of this type are more difficult to jolt into
action than those of another type who reflect less, meditate
hardly at all, and busy themselves with an active, matter-
of-fact, work-a-day, approach to the problems of life. Such
types certainly do exist. Yet if we subscribed to this school
of psychology, we would soon be at the end of our investi-
gations, and should be forced, like other psychologists, to
be content to affirm that in one type the powers of fantasy,
and in the other, the ability to work, was better developed.
This would hardly be sufficient for a real science. We need
to discover better conceptions of how these things happen,
and whether they had to happen, and whether they can be
avoided or mitigated. For this reason such artificial and
superficial cataloguings are not valid for a rational study
of human nature, even though the various types, as stated
above, actually do occur.

Individual Psychology has seized upon the development
of the soul where the forms of psychic expression origi-
nate: in the earliest days of childhood. It has established
that these expressions, taken wholly or singly, are either
those which are colored by the preponderance of the social
feeling, or are those in which the striving for power is more
in evidence. With this contention Individual Psychology
has found itself in possession of the key with which it is

180 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

possible to understand a human being according to a sim-
ple and universally applicable concept. Any buman being
may be classified according to this key concept, which has
an enormous field of application. That the caution and skill
in observation which is appropriate to a psychologist, must
be employed in every case, goes without saying. With this
self -understood premise we acquire a standard, and are
able to adduce whether a psychic phenomenon has for its
content a greater degree of social feeling compounded with
only a slight striving for personal power and prestige, or
whether it is predominantly egoistic, ambitious, and use-
ful only in arrogating to its bearer a sense of superiority
over his environment. On this basis it is not difficult to un-
derstand more clearly certain character traits which have
previously been misunderstood; and to weigh them ac-
cording to their place in the personality-as-a-whole. At the
same time that we understand a trait or behavior pattern in
anyone, we acquire a lever with which we can modify that
individual's behavior.

V. Temperament and Endocrine Secretion

The category of 'temperaments" is an old classification
of psychic phenomena and traits. It is difficult to know
just what is meant by ** temperament. ' ' Is it the quickness
with which one thinks, speaks, or acts? The power or the
rhythm with which one approaches a task? On investiga-
tion the explanations of psychologists concerning the es-
sence of temperament seem singularly inadequate. We
must admit that science has been unable to get away from
the concept that there are four temperaments, a concept
which dates back to the gray antiquity in which men first
began to study the psychic life. The division of tempera-
ments into sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic,

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 181

dates from ancient Greece, where it was assumed by Hippo-
crates, whence it was taken up later by the Romans, and
remains today an honorable and sacred relic in our pres-
ent psychology.

To the sanguine type belong those individuals who evince
a certain joy in life, who do not take things too seriously,
who do not let gray hairs grow too easily on their heads,
who attempt to see the pleasantest and most beautiful side
of every event, who are sad when sadness is proper, with-
out breaking down, who experience pleasure in happy
things, without losing their sense of perspective. A careful
description of these indi\dduals shows nothing more than
that they are approximately healthy people, in whom
high-grade defects are not present. We cannot make this
assertion of the other three types.

The choleric individual is described in an old poetical
work as a man who fiercely kicks aside a stone which lies in
his way, while the sanguine individual comfortably walks
around it. Translated into the language of Individual Psy-
chology, the choleric individual is one whose striving for
power is so tense that he makes more emphatic and violent
movements, feeling that he is forced at all times to produce
evidence of his power. He is interested only in overcoming
all obstacles in a straight-line aggressive approach. In re-
ality, the more intense movements of these individuals be-
gin early in their childhood, where they lack a feeling of
their power, and must demonstrate it constantly to be con-
vinced of its existence.

The melancholic type makes quite a different impres-
sion. To maintain the simile which we have mentioned, the
melancholic individual, on seeing the stone, would remem-
ber all his sins, begin brooding sadly about his past life,
and turn back. Individual Psychology sees in him the out-
spokenly hesitating neurotic who has no confidence in ever

182 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

overcoming his difficulties or of getting ahead, who prefers
not to risk a new adventure, who would rather remain
standing still than to proceed to a goal ; if such an individ-
ual does go on, he begins every movement with the greatest
caution. In his life, doubt plays a predominant role. This
type of man thinks much more of himself than of the oth-
ers, which eventually excludes him from the greater pos-
sibility of finding adequate contacts with life. He is so
oppressed with his own cares that he can stare only into the
past, or spend his time in fruitless introspection.

The phlegmatic individual in general is a stranger to
life. He gathers impressions without deducing the appro-
priate conclusions from them. Nothing makes a great im-
pression upon him, he is hardly interested in anything, he
makes no friends, in short he has almost no connections
with life: of all types he perhaps stands at the greatest
distance from the business of living.

We may therefore conclude that the sanguine individual
alone can be a good human being. Clearly defined tempera-
ments however are seldom found. For the most part one
deals with admixtures of one or more, and this very circum-
stance robs the lore of temperament of all value. Nor are
these ** types'^ and ** temperaments" fixed. We find, fre-
quently, that one temperament dissolves into another, as
when a child who begins as a choleric individual, later be-
comes melancholic, and ends his life the picture of the
phlegmatic habitus. The sanguine individual seems to be
that one who has been least exposed to the feeling of in-
feriority in his childhood, who has shown fewest important
bodily infirmities, and has been subjected to no strong ir-
ritations, with the result that he developed quietly, with
a certain love for life, which enables him to approach it on
a sure footing.

At this point science enters the lists and declares : ' ' Tern-

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 183

peraments are dependent upon the glands of internal se-
cretion. ' ' ^ One of the latest developments in medical science
has been the recognition of the importance of endocrine
secretions. The glands of internal secretion are the thyroid,
the pituitary, the adrenals, the parathyroids, and the is-
lands of Langerhans in the pancreas, the interstitial glands
of the testes and ovaries, together with certain other his-
tological structures, the functions of which are but vaguely
understood. These glands have no ducts but pour their
secretions directly into the blood.

The general impression is that all organs and tissues
are influenced in their growth and activity by these en-
docrine secretions which are carried by the blood to every
single cell in the body. These secretions act as activators
or detoxicants and are essential to life, but the full signifi-
cance of these endocrine glands is still veiled in darkness.
The* whole science of endocrine secretion is only in its begin-
nings and positive facts concerning the function of the
endocrine juices are few and far between. But since this
young science has demanded recognition, and has attempted
to direct the line of psychological thought as regards char-
acter and temperament, in affirming that these secretions
determine character and temperament, we must say some-
thing more about them.

To begin with, let us deal with one important objection.
If we see an actual disease process, such as cretinism, in
which the thyroid gland is deficiently active, it is quite true
that we also find psychic manifestations, comparable to the
last degree of the phlegmatic temperament. Without going
into the fact that these individuals appear puffy and
bloated, that the growth of their hair is pathological, and
that they develop a particularly thick skin, they show extra-

1 Cf. Kretschmer's Character and Temperament — Berlin 1921.

184 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

ordinary slowness and lassitude in their movements. Their
psychic sensitivity is markedly lessened and their initiative
is almost absent.

Should we now compare this case with another case which
we could designate as phlegmatic, although no demonstra-
ble pathological changes in the thyroid gland were present,
we should find two entirely different pictures, with entirely
dissimilar character traits. One might therefore say that
seemingly there is something in the secretion of the thyroid
gland which helps to maintain an adequate psychic func-
tion ; we cannot, however, go so far as to say that the phleg-
matic temperament arises out of the loss of this secretion
of the thyroid gland.

The pathologically phlegmatic type is something entirely
different from that which we are used to calling phlegmatic ;
the psychologically phlegmatic character and temperament
is distinguished from the pathologically phlegmatic, en-
tirely by the previous psychological history of the indivi-
dual. The phlegmatic types with which we as psychologists
are interested are by no means static individuals. We shall
often be surprised to find what astonishingly deep and
violent reactions sometimes occur in them. There is no
phlegmatic individual who has been phlegmatic all his life.
We will learn that his temperament is but an artificial
shell, a defense mechanism (for which he may have had,
conceivably, a constitutionally determined tendency in his
life) which an oversensitive being has created for himself,
a fortification which he has thrown up between himself and
the outer world. The phlegmatic temperament is a defense
mechanism, a meaningful response to the challenge of ex-
istence, and in this sense entirely dissimilar to the sense-
less slowness, indolence, and inadequacy of a cretin whose
thyroid gland is completely inadequate.

Even in those cases in which it would seem that only

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 185

those patients who previously had an incompetent thyroid
secretion acquired a phlegmatic temperament, this impor-
tant and significant objection is not over-ruled. This is not
the crux of the whole question. What actually is at stake
is a whole complex bundle of causes and purposes, a whole
system of organ activity plus external influences, which
produce a feeling of inferiority. From this feeling of in-
feriority originates the attempt of the individual who can
develop a phlegmatic temperament, to shield himself from
unpleasant insults and injuries to his personal self esteem,
in this way. But this means only that we are here dealing
specifically with a type of whom we have already spoken in
general. Here the deficiency of the thryoid gland is a spe-
cific organ inferiority, and its consequences assume a domi-
nant role. And this organ inferiority gives rise to a more
strained attitude toward life for which the individual at-
tempts compensation through psychic tricks, of which the
phlegmatic habitus is a well known example.

We shall be confirmed in our conception when we take
into consideration other anomalies of internal secretion and
examine the temperaments which belong to them. Thus
there are individuals who have an exaggerated thyroid se-
cretion, as in Basedow's disease, or goiter. The physical
signs of this disease are over-activity of the heart, high
pulse-frequency, exophthalmos or bulging eyes, swelling
of the thyroid gland, and the greater or lesser tendency of
the extremities, particularly the hands, to tremble. Such
patients perspire easily, aiid their gastro-intestinal appara-
tus frequently labors under greater difficulties as a result
of the secondary influence of the thyroid secretion upon
that of the pancreas. Such patients are highly sensitive and
easily irritated, and they are marked by a hasty, irritated,
trembling activity, often associated with well marked anx-
iety states. The picture of a typical exophthalmic goiter

186 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

patient is unmistakably that of an over-anxious human
being.

To say, however, that this is identical with the picture
of psychological anxiety, is to commit a grave error. The
psychological phenomena which one sees in exophthalmic
goiter, the anxiety states, the inability to do certain bodily
or mental work, the easy fatigue and great weakness, are
conditioned not only by psychic causes, but also by organic
ones. A comparison with a human being who suffers from a
hurry and anxiety neurosis shows an immense contrast. In
marked contrast to those individuals whose psychic over-
activity is a result of hyperthyroidism, whose character is
secondary to a chronic intoxication, who are so to speak
drunk on thyroid secretion are those other excitable, hasty,
anxious individuals who belong in an entirely different
category, for their position is determined almost entirely
by their previous psychic experiences. The hyperthyroid
individual certainly shows similarities in behavior, but his
activity lacks that planfulness and purposefulness which is
the essential index of character and temperament.

Other glands with intern'al secretion must also be dis-
cussed here. The connection between the development of the
various glands of internal secretion and the development
of the testes and ovaries is especially important.^ Our con-
tention which has become one of the fundamental tenets
of biological research, is that one never finds anomalies of
the glands of internal secretion without also finding anoma-
lies of the gonads, or sexual glands. The especial depen-
dency, and the reason for the simultaneous appearance of
these inferiorities, has never been fully determined. In the
case of organic defects in these glands too, the same conclu-

1 Cf . Alfred Adler, Organ Inferiority and Its Psychic Compensa-
tion— Adler, Studie uber die Mvnderwertigheit von Organen.

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 187

sions which we might have been led to deduce in other or-
ganic inferiorities, are to be drawn. Where the gonads are
insufficient we find an individual with organic difficulties
who finds it more difficult to adjust himself to life, and in
consequence must produce a greater number of psychic
tricks and defense mechanisms to aid him in making the
adjustment.

Enthusiastic investigators of the endocrine glands have
led us to expect that character and temperament were
wholly dependent upon the endocrine secretions of the
sexual glands. It appears however, that extensive anomalies
in the glandular substance of the testes and ovaries are
infrequently found. In those cases where pathological de-
generations are present, we are dealing with the exceptional
cases. There is no particular psychic habitus which is di-
rectly connected with the defective function of the sexual
glands, which would not originate much more frequently
in the specific diseases of the sexual glands ; we find no solid
medical foundation for an endocrine basis of character
such as the endocrinologists claim. That certain stimuli,
necessary for the vitality of the organism, arise from the
sexual glands, and that these stimuli may determine the
position of the child in his environment, is undeniable. Yet
these stimuli may be produced by other organs as well, and
they are not necessarily the basis of a specific psychic struc-
ture.

Since putting a value on a human being is a difficult and
delicate task, in which an error may decide between life
and death, we must issue a warning here. The temptation
on the part of childr-en who come into the world with con-
genitally weak organs to acquire particular psychic tricks
and artifices as a compensation is very great. But this
temptation to develop a peculiar psychic structure can he
overcome. There is no organ, no matter in what condition

188 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

it is, whicli would necessarily and irrevocably force an
individual to some particular attitude in life. It may dis-
hearten him, but that is another matter. View points simi-
lar to that we have just mentioned can exist solely because
no one has ever attempted to obviate the difficulties in the
psychic development of children with organic inferiorities.
One has allowed them to lapse into errors as a result of
their inferiorities; one has examined and observed them,
but not attempted to help, or to stimulate them! The new
positional or contexual psychology which has been founded
upon the experiences of Individual Psychology will prove
its Tightness in consequence of its teachings on this score,
and will force the present dispositional or constitutional
psychology to strike its colors.

VI. Recapitulation

Before we go to the consideration of single character
traits let us review in brief the points which we have al-
ready discussed. We have made the important contention
that the understanding of human nature can never be
learned by the examination of isolated phenomena which
have been withdrawn from their entire psychic context and
relationships. It is essential for this understanding that
we compare at least two phenomena which are separated by
as great a time as possible, and connect them within a uni-
fied behavior pattern. This particular device has proven
itself very useful ; it enables us to gather a whole mass of
impressions and condense them, by systematic arrange-
ments, into a sound evaluation of character. If we were to
base our judgment upon isolated phenomena we should find
ourselves in the same difficulties which beset other psychol-
ogists and pedagogues and thus be under the necessity of
utilizing those traditional criteria which we have always

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 189

found useless and sterile. If we can succeed, however, in
gaining a number of points where we can apply the lever-
age of our system, and join these into a single pattern, we
have a system before us whose lines of force are evident,
whose clear unit evaluation of the human being will be
worth while. Under these circumstances alone shall we be
standing upon solid scientific ground. Closer acquaintance-
ship with an individual may of necessity cause us to change
or modify our judgment to a degree. Before we make any
attempt at educational modification we must fashion for
ourselves some clear picture of the individual to be edu-
cated according to this system.

Various ways and means have been discussed whereby
such a system can be fashioned, and we have used as illus-
trations, phenomena which we have either experienced in
ourselves or we might demand of any normal being. Fur-
ther than this, we have insisted that this system which we
have created must never lack for one factor, and that is
the social factor. It is not enough to observe the individual
phenomena of psychic life. We must always respect them
in their relationship to the social life. The most important
and valuable fundamental thesis for our communal life
is this : The character of a human being is never the basis
of a moral judgment, but is an index of the attitude of this
human being toward his environment, and of his relation-
ship to the society in which he lives.

In the elaboration of these ideas we discovered two uni-
versal human phenomena: the first one is the universal
existence of a social feeling which binds man to man ; this
social feeling is at the basis of all great accomplish-
ments of our civilization. The social feeling is the sole
criterion with which we may effectively measure the phe-
nomena of psychic life which has enabled us to predicate
the available quantum of social feeling in any individual.

190 UNDERSTANDING HmiAN NATURE

We acquire a plastic impression of the human soul when
we know how an individual stands toward society, how he
expresses his fellowship in mankind, how he makes his
existence fruitful and vital. Then we discovered a second
criterion for the evaluation of character: those powers
which are most hostile to the social feeling are the ten-
dencies and strivings toward personal power and superi-
ority. With these two points of view we can understand
how the relation between human beings is conditioned by
the relative degree of their social feelings, as contrasted
to their strivings for personal aggrandisement, two tenden-
cies which are always in opposition to each other. It is a dy-
namic game, a parallelogram of forces whose external mani-
festations are what we call character.

CHAPTER II

AGORESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS

I. Vanity and Ambition

As soon as the striving for recognition assumes the up-
per hand, it evokes a condition of greater tension in the
psychic life. As a consequence, the goal of power and su-
periority becomes increasingly obvious to the individual,
who pursues it with movements of great intensity and vio-
lence, and his life becomes the expectation of a great tri-
umph. Such an individual loses his sense of reality because
he loses his connection with life, being always occupied
with the question of what other people think about him,
and being concerned chiefly with the impression that he
makes. The freedom of his action is inhibited to an extraor-
dinary degree through this style of life, and his most
obvious character trait becomes vanity.

It is probable that every human being is vain to some
degree; yet making an exhibit of one's vanity is not con-
sidered good form. Vanity, therefore, is frequently so dis-
guised and cloaked that it appears in the most varied
transformations. There is a type of modesty, by way of ex-
ample, which is essentially vain. One man may be so vain
as never to consider the judgment of others ; another seeks
greedily after public approbation and uses it to his own
advantage.

Exaggerated beyond a certain degree vanity becomes
exceedingly dangerous. Quite beside the fact that vanity
191

192 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

leads an individual to all kinds of useless work and effort
which is more concerned with the semblance of things than
with their essence, and beside the fact that it causes him to
think constantly of himself, or at the most only of other
people 's opinion of him, its greatest danger is that it leads
him sooner or later to lose contact with reality. He loses
his understanding for human connections, his relations to
life become warped. He forgets the obligations of living,
and he loses sight especially of the contributions which
nature demands of every man. No other vice is so well
designed to stunt the free development of a human being
as that personal vanity which forces an individual to ap-
proach every event and every fellow with the query:
*'"What do I get out of thisT'

People are wont to help themselves out of the difficulty
by substituting the better-sounding word '* ambition*' for
vanity, or haughtiness. How many people there are who
are exceedingly proud to tell us how ambitious they are!
The concept '* energetic" or ** active" is also frequently
used. So long as this energy proves itseK of use for society
we can admit its value, but it is u^sually the rule that all
these terms 'industry," ''activity," "energy," and *' go-
getting" are expressions to cloak an unusual degree of
vanity.

Vanity very soon prevents an individual from playing
the game according to the rules. Much more frequently
it causes him to be a disturber of others so that those in-
dividuals who are excluded from the satisfaction of their
own vanity are often to be found striving to prevent oth-
ers from the full expression of their lives. Children whose
vanity is in process of growth exhibit their valor in dan-
gerous situations and like to show weaker children how
powerful they are. A case in point is cruelty to animals.
Other children who are already discouraged to a certain

AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 193

degree will attempt to satisfy their vanity with all manner
of incomprehensible pettinesses. They will avoid the main
arena of work and attempt to satisfy their striving for
signiJScance by playing an heroic role in some side show of
life which their mood may have dictated. The people who
are always complaining how bitter life is, and how badly
fate has treated them, belong in this category. They are
the ones who would let us know that if they had not been
so badly educated, or if some other misfortune had not
occurred to them, that they would be the leaders of today.
They are constantly making alibis for not approaching the
real firing front of life ; the sole satisfaction for their van-
ity may be found in the dreams which they create for them-
selves.

The average human being finds himself in difficulties
with such individuals because he will not know how to
criticize or evaluate them. The vain one always knows
how to shift the responsibility for any mistakes to the
shoulders of another. He is always right, the others are
always wrong. In life, however, it makes little difference
who is right and who is wrong, since the only thing which
counts is the accomplishment of one's purpose, and the
contribution to the lives of others. Instead of making this
contribution, the vain individual is occupied with com-
plaints, excuses, and alibis. We are dealing here with the
various tricks of the human soul, with attempts of in-
dividuals to maintain, at all costs, their feeling of superi-
ority, and to shield their vanity from any insult.

The objection has frequently been made that without
great ambition the great accomplishments of mankind
would never have taken place. This is a false view in a
false perspective. Since no one is entirely free of vanity,
everyone has a certain amount of it. But it is not this van-
ity, surely, which is responsible for determining the direc-

194 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

tion his activity has taken toward universal usefulness,
nor has it given him the power to carry out his great ac-
complishments! Such accomplishments can occur only un-
der the stimulus of a social feeling. A work of genius be-
comes valuable only through its social connotation. What-
ever vanity is present in its creation can only detract from
its value, and disturb its creation ; in a real work of genius
the influence of vanity is not great.

In the social atmosphere of our times however it is im-
possible to divorce ourselves entirely from a certain de-
gree of vanity. The recognition of this fact is in itself a
great asset. With this recognition we touch a sore point
of our civilization, a factor which is responsible for the
permanent unhappiness of many human beings who are
to be found only where there is mischief and calamity.
These are the poor fellows who cannot get along with any-
one, who are unable to adjust themselves to life because
their whole purpose is to appear to be more than they are.
It is not to be wondered that they fall easily into conflicts,
since they are concerned solely with their reputation among
others. In the most complex entanglements which human
beings experience we shall find the esential difficulty has
been someone's unsuccessful attempt to satisfy his vanity.
It is an important bit of technique on our part to be able
to determine the degree of vanity, the direction of its
activity, and the instruments with which it effects its ends,
when we are attempting to understand a complicated per-
sonality. Such an understanding will always disclose how
unhealthy vanity can be for the social feeling. Vanity, and
the feeling for one's fellow men, are not conceivable to-
gether. These two character traits can never be joined be-
cause vanity will not allow itself to be subordinated to the
principles of society.

Vanity finds its fate within itself. The development of

AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 195

vanity is constantly threatened by those logical objections
which develop out of the communal life. Social and com-
munal life are absolute principles which are undefeatable.
Vanity therefore, is forced to hide itself at a very early
period of its development, disguise itself, and make de-
tours to accomplish its end. The vain individual will al-
ways be a prey to grave doubts as to his ability to achieve
the victories which it would seem his vanity demands;
while he dreams and ponders, time flies. And when the
time has gone, our vain one has the alibi that he never had
an opportunity to show what he could do.

In the usual case the sequence of events is something
like this: the particular individual seeks some privileged
position, holds himself apart from the stream of life, and,
standing apart, observes the activity of the rest of man-
kind, with a certain mistrust because of which every fellow-
creature appears as an enemy. Vain people must assume
positions of offense and defense. Often we will find them
deep in doubt, entangled in important considerations that
seem to be logical, which give them the semblance of being
in the right ; but in the course of their considerations they
waste the main opportunities, and lose their connection
with life and society, and forego the tasks which everyone
must accomplish.

Observe them more closely and we see a background of
vanity, a desire to conquer everything and everyone, which
reflects itself in a thousand varied forms. This vanity is
evident in every attitude, in their dress, in their way of
speaking, and in their contacts with human beings. In
short, wherever we look, we see the pictures of vain, am-
bitious individuals who make no choice in the instruments
which will lead them to superiority. Since external mani-
festations of this sort are not very pleasant, vain people
if they are clever, and realize the distance which lies be-

196 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

tween them and the society which they deny, make every
attempt to camouflage the outer signs of vanity. Thus we
may find individuals who are externally modest, who vir-
tually neglect their outer appearances in order to indicate
that they are not vain! The story is told that Socrates
addressed a speaker who had mounted the tribune in old
and bedraggled clothes: ** Young man of Athens, your
vanity peeps out through every hole in your robe!"

There are people who are deeply convinced that they
are not vain. They look only at the outside, knowing that
vanity lies much deeper. Vanity may be expressed, for in-
stance, in that a person always demands the full stage in
his social circle, must always have the floor, or judges a
social gathering as good or bad according to his ability to
maintain the center of the stage. Other individuals of this
same sort never go into society, and seek to avoid it as
much as possible. This avoidance of society may express
itself in various ways. Non-acceptance of invitations, or
coming late, or forcing one 's host to coax and flatter before
one comes, are some of these vain tricks. Other individuals
go into society only under very definite conditions and
show their vanity by being very ' * exclusive. ' ' They proudly
consider this as a laudable trait. Others, again show their
vanity by wishing to be present at all social gatherings.

One must not feel that these are unimportant and in-
significant details; they are very deeply rooted in the
soul. In reality a person who can be guilty of them has not
much place in his personality for the social feeling; he is
more apt to be a destroyer of society, than its friend. The
poetical powers of a great writer were necessary in order
to portray these types with all their variations. We attempt
solely to indicate them in their bare outlines.

The one motive which we can discover in all vanity in-
dicates that the vain individual has created a goal which

AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 197

is impossible of attainment in this life. It is his purpose
to be more than all others in the world, and this goal is the
result of his feeling of inadequacy. We may suspect that
anyone whose vanity is well marked, has little sense of his
own worth. There may be individuals who are conscious
that their vanity begins where their feeling of inadequacy
becomes evident, but unless they make a fruitful use of
their knowledge their mere consciousness is sterile.

Vanity develops at a very early period. There is usually
something very puerile about all vanity, and as a result,
vain individuals always impress us as being somewhat
childish. The situations which may determine the develop-
ment of vanity are varied. In one case a child feels him-
self neglected because, as a result of inadequate education,
he senses his littleness as unbearably oppressive. Other
children acquire a certain haughtiness as a result of their
family tradition. We can be certain their parents, too,
assumed such an ** aristocratic'* bearing, which distin-
guished them from others, and made them very proud.

But beneath this attitude there lies nothing but the at-
tempt to consider oneself a particularly exclusive human
being, different from all other human beings, born in a
family which is ** better" than all other families, which
has ** better" and ** higher" sensibilities, which feels itself
predestined, by virtue of its genealogy, to maintain a cer-
tain privilege in life. The demand for such privilege also
gives a direction to life, and determines a type of behavior
and its forms of expression. Since life is little adapted to
the favorable development of such types, since such indi-
viduals with their demand for special privileges are either
antagonized or ridiculed, many of them withdraw timidly
and lead a hermit, or an eccentric, existence. As long as
they remain at home where they are not responsible to any-
one they can maintain their intoxication, and feel them-

198 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

selves reinforced in their attitude by believing that they
might have accomplished their purpose if things had been
otherwise.

Occasionally, capable, important individuals who have
developed themselves to the highest degree are to be found
in this type. If they were to throw their talents into the
scales, they might be of some value, but they misuse their
abilities in order to intoxicate themselves further. The con-
ditions which they set for an active cooperation with soci-
ety are not easily satisfied. They may, for instance, place
unfulfillable conditions on time, pointing to the fact that
they losed to do things, or had learned things, or had
known other things; again, they make alibis, saying that
others had done or had not done things, according to their
system. Their conditions may be impossible of satisfac-
tion because of still more evanescent reasons. They will
assert, for instance, that all would have gone well if men
were really men, or if women had not been what they were.
But these conditions could not be fulfilled even with the
best intentions! We must conclude, therefore, that they
are really only lazy alibis as valuable as hypnotic or in-
toxicant drugs which rob one of the necessity of having
to think about the time one has wasted.

There is a great deal of hostility in these people, and
they are inclined to take the pain and sorrow of others
lightly. This is the mechanism whereby they achieve a
feeling of greatness. La Rochefoucault, a great knower of
human nature, said of most people ''They can bear the
pains of others easily.'' Social hostility often expresses it-
self in the assumption of a sharp, critical manner. These
enemies of society are forever blaming, criticizing, ridicul-
ing, judging, and condemning the world. They are dis-
satisfied with everything. But it is not enough only to rec-

AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 199

dze the bad, and condemn it! One must ask oneself:
**What have I done to make these things better?"

The vain character is satisfied with elevating himself
over the rest of humanity by a trick, and etching the char-
acter of others with the sharp acid of his criticism. It is not
strange that such individuals occasionally develop a fine
technique, since they have extraordinary practice and train-
ing in it. Individuals who are the greatest wits, whose
quickness and readiness of repartee are remarkable, are to
be found among them. One can do mischief with wit and
quickness of perception as with everything else, and, as is
the case with the satirists, make sport and mischief with it.

The derogatory, deprecating fashion of such individuals,
who cannot criticize too much, is their expression of a char-
acter trait which is common enough. We have called this
the deprecation complex. It indicates actually what the
point of attack of the vain person is: it is the worth and
value of his fellow man. The deprecation tendency is an
attempt to create the feeling of superiority by the degra-
dation of one's fellows. The recognition of another's worth
is equivalent to an insult to the vain one's personality.
From this fact alone we can draw far reaching conclusions,
and learn how deeply rooted in the personality of a vain in-
dividual his feeling of weakness and inadequacy is.

Since no one of us is quite free of this taint we can use
this discussion very well to apply a standard to ourselves,
even though we are not capable of uprooting, in a short
time, what thousands of years of tradition has allowed to
grow up in us. It will nevertheless be a step in advance if
we will not allow ourselves to be hoodwinked and entangled
in prejudices which eventually will be proven disadvan-
tageous and dangerous. It is not our desire to be different
human beings, nor to seek different human beings. Yet we

200 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

feel that a natural law demands that we stretch out our
hands to join, and cooperate with, our fellow-men. In an
age like ours which demands so much cooperation, there
is no longer place for the strivings of personal vanity. It is
in just such an epoch as ours that the contradictions of a
vain attitude toward life appear especially obvious and
crass, since we see daily how vanity leads to failure, and
eventually brings its bearers under the severe fire of so-
ciety, or places them in need of that society's sympathy.
At no time was vanity more objectionable than today.
The least we can do is search for better forms and mani-
festations of vanity, so that if we must be vain, we will at
least exercise our vanity in the direction of the common
weal !

The following case is an excellent demonstration of the
dynamics of vanity. A young woman, the youngest of sev-
eral sisters, was very much pampered from the earliest
days of her life. Her mother was at her service day and
night, and satisfied her every wish. As a result of this solic-
itude the demands of this youngest child, who was very
weak physically, as well, mounted into the realm of the
immeasurable. One fine day she made the discovery that
her mother lorded it over her environment whenever she
was sick ; and it did not take the young lady long to learn
that sickness might be a very valuable asset.

She soon swallowed the disinclination which normal
healthy people feel toward sickness, and it was not at all
unpleasant for her to feel badly, from time to time. Soon
she acquired so much training in being sick that she could
easily be iU whenever she desired it, and especially when
her heart was set upon attaining some special object. Un-
fortunately she was constantly desirous of obtaining some
special object, with the result that, so far as her environ-
ment was concerned, she became chronically ill. The mani-

AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 201

festations of this ** sickness complex'' in children and
grown-ups M'ho feel their power growing, and are enabled
to occupy the center of their families, and exercise an un-
bounded domination over them by virtue of their illness,
are many. "When we have to deal with tender, weak in-
dividuals the possibilities of this way to power are enor-
mous, and naturally it is just such individuals who find
this way to power, since they have already tasted the con-
cern which their relatives show for their health.

In such a situation an individual can play certain ac-
cessory tricks to gain his ends. By way of beginning, for
instance, one does not eat enough; the result is one looks
badly, and the family must go to great lengths to cook
delicacies for its sick member, and presto ! , in the process,
the desire to have someone constantly dancing attendance
upon one develops. These are the people who cannot bear to
be alone. Simply by feeling ill, or being in danger, one
acquires the beloved attention. This is easily arranged by
identifying onself with a dangerous situation, or with some
sickness.

The ability to identify oneself with a thing or situation
we call empathy. It is well demonstrated in our dreams in
which we feel as though some specific situation actually was
taking place. Once the victims of the ** sickness complex"
assume that mode of acquiring power, they succeed very
easily in producing and conjuring up a feeling of malaise
so cleverly that there can be no talk of a lie, or distortion,
or imagination. We know very well that the identification
with a situation can produce the same effect as if that
situation were actually present. "We know that such indi-
viduals can actually vomit, or produce a real feeling of
anxiety, just as though they actually were nauseated or
in danger. Usually they betray themselves in the manner in
which they produce these symptoms ; this young woman of

202 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

whom we were speaking, for instance, declared that she
sometimes had a fear **as if I would have an apoplectic
stroke any moment/' There are people who can imagine a
thing so clearly that they actually lose their equilibrium,
and one cannot talk of imagination or simulation. All that
is necessary is that one of these sickness champions suc-
ceeds once in impressing his environment with the signs of
a disease, or at least with so-called ** nervous*' symptoms.
Thereafter everyone who has once been impressed must
remain at the side of the ** patient," take care of him, and
attend to his well being. The sickness of a fellow man chal-
lenges the social feeling of every normal human being.
This fact is misused and constituted into a basis of a feel-
ing of power by individuals of the type which we have
just described.

The opposition to the laws of society and communal
life which demand such far reaching considerations .of
one 's fellow men, becomes very evident under such circum-
stances. We shall find as a rule that these individuals
whom we have been describing are unable to understand
the pain or happiness of their fellow-men. It will be diffi-
cult for them not to injure the rights of their neighbors;
to be helpful to their fellows is entirely beyond their in-
terests. Occasionally they may succeed in life, as a result
of terrific efforts, and by virtue of the mobilization of their
entire armament of education and culture; more often
their efforts will be directed towards attaining only the
outward show of interest in the welfare of their fellows.
Essentially, nothing but self love and vanity is the basis
of their conduct.

Certainly this is true of the young woman we have just
described. Her solicitude for her relatives seemingly ex-
ceeded all bounds. If her mother were to bring her break-
fast to her bed, half an hour late, it would cause her to

AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 203

be worried and concerned; under such circumstances she
was not satisfied until she had awakened her husband,
and forced him to investigate whether something had not
happened to her mother. In the course of time her mother
accustomed herself to appear very punctually with the
young woman *s breakfast. Much the same thing happened
to her husband. Being a business man, he had to consider
his customers and business associates to some extent, yet
every time he appeared at home a few minutes late he
found his wife almost on the verge of a nervous break-
down, shivering with anxiety, bathed in perspiration, bit-
terly complaining how she had been the prey of the most
horrible apprehensions and presentiments. Her poor hus-
band could but follow the example of her mother and
force himself to be punctual.

Many people will object that this woman really got no
benefit from her actions and that these in reality were no
great triumphs. One must keep in mind that we have de-
scribed but a small part of the whole; her sickness is a
danger sign which says, * ' Take care ! ' ' It is an index of all
the other relationships in her life. With this simple device
she put everyone in her environment into training. The
satisfaction of her vanity played an essential role in the
satisfaction of her boundless desire to dominate her envi-
ronment. Imagine the length to which such an individual
must go to accomplish his purpose! We must deduce that
her attitude and behavior had become an utter necessity
for her when we realize what a high price she was paying
for them ! She could not live quietly unless her words were
obeyed unconditionally and punctually. But marriage con-
sists in more than having one^s husband punctual. A thou-
sand other relationships are fixed by the imperative con-
duct of this woman, who has learned how to reinforce her
commands with anxiety states. She is seemingly intensely

204 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

concerned with the welfare of others, yet everyone must
unconditionally obey her will. We can make only one con-
clusion, her solicitude is an instrument for the satisfaction
of her vanity.

It is not unusual to find a psychic attitude of this nature
assuming such proportions that the accomplishment of a
person's will becomes more important than the thing which
he desires. This is exemplified by the case of a six-year-
old girl whose egotism was so boundless that she was con-
cerned solely with the accomplishment of any random
whim that happened to be in her thought at any particular
moment. Her behavior was permeated by the desire to
show her powers in the conquest of her associates. This
conquest usually was the result of her activity. Her mother,
who was very anxious to remain on good terms with her
daughter, once attempted to surprise the child with her
favorite dessert, bringing it to her with the words, **I
have brought you this dessert because I know that you
like it so much.'' The little girl crashed the plate to the
ground, trampled on the cake and cried out, **But I don't
want it because you are giving it to me, I want it only when
I want it." Another time this same mother asked whether
this little girl would like to have coffee or milk for lunch.
The little girl stood in the doorway and murmured very
clearly, ''If she says coffee I will drink milk, and if she
says milk I will drink coffee ! ' '

This was a child who spoke her mind plainly, but there
are many children who are in the same class who do not
express their thoughts so distinctly. Perhaps every child
has this trait to a degree and is at great odds to accom-
plish its will, even though it has nothing to gain, and
may even suffer pain and unhappiness as a result of having
its own way. For the most part these will be the children
in whom the privilege of having their own way has been

AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 205

allowed to develop. Opportunities for this are not hard to
find nowadays. Consequently among adults we will find
people who are anxious to have their own way much more
frequently than those who desire to help their fellows.
Some go so far in their vanity that they are incapable of
doing anything which another has suggested to them, even
though this is the most self -understood procedure in the
world, and really signifies their own happiness. These are
the people who cannot wait until another has finished
speaking in order to raise their objections and their oppo-
sition. And there are some people whose will is spurred
on by their vanity to such an extent that they actually
say **no!" when they want to say **yes!"

To have one 's own way all the time is possible only within
the circle of one's family, and not always there. Individ-
uals whose contacts with strangers are amiable and com-
plaisant are often to be found. This contact does not
last long, however, is quickly broken off, and surely sought
for but seldom. Since life is as it is, and human beings are
constantly being brought together, it is not unusual to find
some such individual who wins the hearts of all, but once
having won them, leaves them in the lurch. 'Many strive
constantly to circumscribe their activities within the circle
of their family life. This process occurred in the case of
our patient. As a consequence of her charming character
she was known outside of her home as a delightful person,
was universally beloved, but whenever she left her home,
she returned very soon. The desire to return to her family
was indicated by a variety of tricks. If she went to a party
she got a headache (because at any social gathering she
, could not maintain the feeling of her absolute power to
the degree which she was capable of maintaining at
home), and had to return. Since this woman could not
solve the main problem of her life, the problem of the satis-

206 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

faction of her vanity, except in the center of her family
life, she was forced to arrange something to drive her
back to this family whenever necessary. She carried on to
the extent that she was seized by anxiety and excitement
every time that she went among strangers. Soon she could
not go to the theater, and, finally, she could not appear
upon the street because in these situations she lost the
feeling that the whole world was subject to her will. The
situation which she sought was not to be found outside of
her family and particularly not upon the street ; as a result
she declared her disinclination to appear outside of her
home except when accompanied by the persons of her
*^ court." This was the ideal situation which she loved: to
be surrounded constantly by solicitous people who were
occupied with her welfare. As the examination showed she
had carried this pattern with her from early childhood.

She was the youngest, the weakest, the sickest, and was
under the necessity of being more pampered and cared
for than the others. She seized upon the situation of the
pampered child, and would have maintained it at all costs
throughout her life had she not disturbed the inexorable
conditions of life which are sharply opposed to this type
of behavior. Her unrest and her anxiety states, which were
so outspoken that no one could deny them, betrayed the
fact that she had become side-tracked in the solution of
her vanity problem. The solution was inadequate because
she did not have the will to subordinate herself to the
conditions of social life and thus, finally, the manifestations
of her inability to solve this problem became so painful
that she sought the help of a physician.

Now it was necessary to unveil the whole super-structure
of her life which she had so carefully constructed during
the course of many years. Great resistances had to be
overcome because essentially she was not prepared to

AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 207

change, though outwardly she appealed to the physician
for help. What she really desired was to keep on ruling
her family as before, without having to pay the price of
the torturing anxiety states which pursued her upon the
streets. But one was not to be had without the other! She
was sliown how she was a prisoner within the cage of her
own unconscious behavior whose advantages she wished to
enjoy, but whose disadvantages she wished to avoid.

This example shows all too clearly how every consider-
able degree of vanity acts as a continuous load through-
out life, inhibits the full development of a human being,
and finally leads to his breakdown. The patient cannot
understand these things clearly so long as his attention is
directed only to its advantages. For this reason so many
people are convinced that their ambition, which might
more appropriately be called vanity, is a valuable char-
acteristic because they do not understand that this char-
acter trait constantly dissatisfies a human being, and robs
him of his rest and sleep.

Let us add still another example to prove our thesis, A
young man of twenty-five must take his final examinations.
He did not present himself for the examinations however,
because he suddenly lost his entire interest in the subject.
Hounded by the most unpleasant mood, he deprecated his
own value, and was so saturated with the thought, that he
had finally become incapable of taking his examinations.
Remembrances dating back from his childhood were per-
meated with violent reproaches against his parents whose
lack of understanding for his development had distinctly
hindered him. While he was in this mood he also thought
all human beings were valueless and without interest to
him; in this way he succeeded in effecting his isola-
tion.

Vanity proved itself to be the driving force which con-

208 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

stantly furnished him with the alibis and excuses for
avoiding all tests of his power. Now, just before his final
examinations, he was overcome with these compulsive
thoughts, tortured by his lack of desire, and his stage
fright, which made him perfectly incapable of taking them.
All this was of extreme importance to him because if he
did not now achieve anything remarkable his '* personality
feeling," his sense of his own value, was still saved. He
carried his life preserver with him at all times ! With it he
was safe, consoling himself with the thought that sickness
and blind fate had determined his inaptitude. "We see but
another form of vanity in this attitude which prevents
an individual from putting himself to the test. It enables
him to make his detour at just that moment in which a
decision concerning his ability is imminent. He thinks of
the glory which he would lose in defeat, begins to doubt
his own ability ; he has learned the secret of all those who
can never trust themselves to make a decision!

Our patient belongs to this group of human beings. His
own report of himself shows that he was, as a matter of
fact, always one of them. Every time that the necessity
for a decision approached, he vacillated and weakened.
Being interested only in the study of movements and pat-
terns of action, this gesture signifies to us that he desires
to stop, to brake his progress.

He was the oldest child and the only boy among four
sisters; he was besides, the only one who was designated
for college career. He was, so to speak, the high-light of
the family, for whom great expectations were held. His
father had never lost an opportunity to spur on his am-
bition, and was never tired of telling him of the great
things that he would accomplish. This boy had the desire to
be more than everyone else in the world, as an ever present
goal before his eyes. And now, seized with uncertainty and

AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 209

anxiety, he wonders whether he will ever actually accom-
plish what is awaited of him. Vanity comes to his rescue,
and points the way to retreat.

This shows us how, in the development of an ambitious
vanity, the dice which make progress impossible are cast.
Vanity comes to grips with the social feeling and out of
their tangled combat no escape is possible. Despite this
fact we may observe how vain natures constantly break
through their social feeling from their earliest childhood,
and attempt to go their own isolated way. They remind us
of people who imagine the plan of a strange city accord-
ing to their own fantasy, and then go walking about that
city, with their imaginary plan, looking for imaginary
buildings where they have themselves fantastically located
them. Naturally they never find what they are looking
for ! And poor reality gets the blame. This is the approxi-
mate fate of the egoistic, vain human being. He attempts
to attain his principle, either by power, or by craft and
treachery, in all his relationships with his fellow-men.
He watches for the opportunity to show that others are
wrong and are making mistakes. He is happy when he
succeeds in demonstrating, at least to himself, that he is
cleverer or better than his fellows. But his fellows pay no
attention to him, they take his gage of battle. The fight
goes from defeat to victory, but when it ends, our vain
friend is convinced of his rightness and his superiority.

These are cheap tricks by which anyone can imagine
whatever he wishes to believe. It may thus happen, as in
our case, that an individual who ought to be studying,
who should be subordinating himself to the wisdom of a
book, or submitting himself to an examination where his
true value would appear, becomes aware of his own de-
ficiencies in the false perspective with which he views all
things. He overrates the situation, consequently, and be-

210 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

lieves that his whole happiness in life, his whole success,
is at stake. Of necessity he falls into a state of tension
which no human being can bear.

Every other contact acquires the value of an enormous
event for him, every address, every word, is valued from
the standpoint of his own victory or defeat. It is a con-
tinuous battle which eventually drives an individual who
has made vanity, ambition, false hopes, his behavior pat-
tern in life, into new difficulties and robs him of all true
happiness in life. Happiness is to be had only when the
conditions of life are affirmed, but when these veritable
not-to-be-avoided conditions are pushed aside, he blocks
♦all paths to happiness and joy to himself, and fails in all
those things which mean satisfaction and happiness to
others. The best that he can do is to dream of his super-
iority and domination over others, despite the fact that he
finds them in no wise realized.

If he ever possessed such superiority, he would have no
difficulty in finding enough people whose pleasure it would
be to contest it with him. There is no antidote for this. No
one can be forced to admit someone else 's superiority. "What
remains is the poor man's own mysterious, uncertain judg-
ment about himself. It is hard to make any contacts with
one's fellows or to reach any real success, when one is in-
volved in such a pattern of life. No one wins in this game !
The players are forever exposed to assault and destruction.
Theirs is the bitter duty to appear great and superior at
all times !

It is quite a different thing when the reputation of a
man is justified by his services to others. His honor then
comes to him of itself, and if it is opposed by others, their
opposition has little weight. He can remain quietly in the
possession of his honor because he has not staked every-
thing upon vanity. The deciding point is the egoistic at-

AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 211

titude, the constant search for the elevation of one's own
personality. The vain role is always that of expectation
and acquisition. Contrast your vain person with that other
individual who shows a well developed social feeling, who
goes through life with the question, **What can I give?",
and you will see the enormous differences in character and
in value immediately.

And so we arrive at a point of view which people have
understood for thousands of years. It is expressed in a
famous Biblical line: *'It is more blessed to give than to re-
ceive." If we reflect over the meaning of these words, the
expression of great experience in human nature, we rec-
ognize that it is the attitude and mood of giving which is
meant here. It is the mood of giving, or serving, of help-
ing, which brings with itself a certain compensation and
psychic harmony, like the gift of the gods which takes
root in him who gives it away!

On the other hand the acquisitive people are usually dis-
contented, being occupied solely with the thought of what
they must still achieve and still possess, in order to be
happy. The acquisitive man, whose look is never directed
toward the necessities and needs of others, and to whom
the misfortune of others is a joy, has no place in his sys-
tem for reconciliation and peace with life. He demands the
unbending submission of others to laws which his egoism has
dictated. He demands a different heaven from the one
which exists, a different way of thinking and feeling; in
short, his dissatisfaction and immodesty are as execrable as
everything else which is characteristic of him.

There are the other and more primitive forms of vanity
which we find in those people who dress conspicuously, or
with a certain sense of their own importance, who deck
themselves out like monkeys in order to make a brave ap-
pearance, in much the same way that primitive man at-

212 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

tempts to shine by wearing an especially long feather in
his hair when he has reached a certain degree of pride
and honor. There are a number of human beings who find
the greatest satisfaction in always being dressed beauti-
fully, and according to the latest fashion. The various orna-
ments which such individuals carry indicate their vanity
just as much as so many standards, belligerent emblems,
or weapons, whose purpose, when rightly understood, is to
scare off the enemj^. Somtimes this vanity is expressed by
erotic emblems, or by tatooing which seems frivolous to us.
In these cases we have a feeling that the individual is
striving to make an impression, though he can do so only
at the cost of shamelessness. Shameless behavior lends the
feeling of greatness and superiority to some; others again
have this same feeling when they appear hard, brutal, stub-
born, or isolated. In reality these may be individuals who
are closer to tenderness than to bad manners, whose quon-
dam brutality is but a pose. In boys especially we find
a seeming lack of feeling which is, in effect, a hostile at-
titude toward the social feeling. Individuals who are im-
pelled by this type of vanity, who desire to play a role
through which others suffer, would be insulted by any
appeal to their finer feelings. Such an appeal would simply
cause them to stiffen their attitude. We have seen cases
in which the parents approach a child, pleading their
pain, while the child whom they approach actually ac-
quires a feeling of his own superiority from the demon-
strations of their sorrows.

We have already noted that vanity likes to mask itself.
Vain people who would like to rule others must first catch
them in order to bind them to themselves. We must not,
therefore, allow ourselves to be entirely duped by the ami-
ability, or friendliness, and willingness to make contacts,
which a person may show; nor must we be deceived into

AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 213

believing that he may not nevertheless be a belligerent ag-
gressor who is looking for conquests, and to the mainte-
nance of his personal superiority. The fii'st phase of this
battle must be to assure one's opponent and cajole him so
far that he loses his caution. In the first phase, that of
friendly approach, one is easily tempted to believe that
the aggressor is an individual with a great deal of social
feeling; the second serves to remove the veils and show us
our error. These are the people who disappoint us. We be-
lieve that they possess two souls, but it is but the one
soul, which makes an amiable approach but effects a bit-
ter ending.

The technique of approach may go so far as to assume
the proportions of a sport : soul catching. The traits of the
uttermost devotion may be evident, constituting in them-
selves, a certain kind of triumph. These people speak glibly
of humanity, and seemingly show love of their fellows in
their actions. Yet this usually occurs in so demonstrative
a fashion, that the real knower of the human soul becomes
wary. An Italian criminal psychologist has said, ''when
the ideal attitude of a human being goes beyond a certain
degree, when his philanthropy and humanity assume con-
spicuous proportions, we may well be distrustful." Natu-
rally we must take this phrase with reservations, but we
may be quite sure that the point of view is valid. In general
we can easily recognise the type. Bootlicking is not pleasant
to any one. It soon becomes uncomfortable, and one is on
one's guard against people who make use of this form of
flattery. "We should rather be inclined to contra-indicate
this method to ambitious people. It is better to choose a
different approach and a smoother technique!

We have already become acquainted in the first part
of our book with those situations which most frequently
cause deviations from the normal psychic development.

214 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

From an educational standpoint the difficulties lie in the
fact that we are dealing, in such cases, with children who
have assumed a belligerent attitude toward their environ-
ment. Even though the teacher knows his duties, which
are deeply based in the logic of life, he cannot make this
logic obligatory to the child. The only possible way of
doing this would seem to lie in avoiding any belligerent
situation, so far as possible, and treating the child not as
the object of education, but as the sxibjed; as though he
were a fully adult individual w^ho stood on the same foot-
ing as the teacher. In this way it would not be so easy
for a child to fall into the error of believing that he was
under pressure, or was being neglected, and thus under
the necessity of taking up the gage of battle with his
teachers. From this battle position the false ambition of
our culture which characterizes our thinking, our actions,
and our character traits to such a large degree, develops
automatically and gives occasion, first for increasingly en-
tangled relationships, to defeats of the personality, and
finally to the complete disruption and breakdown of the
individual.

It is very characteristic that fairy tales, that source from
which all of us have learned much of our understanding of
human nature, give us a number of examples which show
us the danger of vanity. We must here review one fairy
tale which shows in a particularly drastic way how the un-
bridled development of vanity leads to an automatic de-
struction of the personality. It is Hans Christian Ander-
son's story of The Vinegar Jar. The story goes that
a fisherman grants a fish he has caught, its freedom, and
the fish, out of gratitude, permits him the fulfillment of
a single wish. His wish is fulfilled. The dissatisfied, am-
bitious wife of the fisherman, however, demands that the
fisherman change his humble request and make her first

AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 216

a duchess, then a queen, and finally, God! She sends her
fisherman husband back to the fish again and again, until
the fish, finally infuriated at the last request, deserts the
fisherman forever.

There are no limits to the development of vanity and
ambition. It is very interesting to see how in fairy tales,
as well as in the overheated psychic striving of vain indi-
viduals, the striving for power assumes the expression of
a desire for the ideal of God-likeness. One does not have
to search far to find that a vain person acts exactly as
though he were God (which happens in the most serious
cases), or he behaves himself as though he were God's
lieutenant, or again, he expresses wishes and desires
which only God could fulfill. This manifestation, the striv-
ing for God-likeness, is the extreme point of a tendency
which is present in all his activities, and amounts to a de-
sire to project himself beyond the boundaries of his per-
sonality.

The evidences of this tendency are many in our age. That
large group of people that interests itself in spiritualism,
psychic research, telepathy and similar movements, is com-
posed of just such people who are anxious to grow beyond
the boundaries of mere humanity, who are desirous of pos-
sessing powers which human beings do not possess, who
wish to remove themselves beyond time and space, as in
the intercourse with ghosts and the spirits of the dead.

If we investigate still further we shall find that a large
portion of humanity has the tendency to secure for itself
a little place in the vicinity of God. There are still a num-
ber of schools whose educational ideal is God-likeness. In
former times this was, indeed, the conscious ideal of all
religious education. We can only attest to the results of this
education with horror. We must certainly look about now-
adays for a more reasonable ideal. But that this tendency

216 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

is so deeply rooted in human kind is quite conceivable.
Apart from the psychological reasons the fact is that
a large portion of humanity gets its first conception of the
nature of man from the catch-word phrases of the Bible
which declares that man was created in the image of God.
"We can imagine what important and what perilous conse-
quences such a conception may leave behind it in the soul
of a child. The Bible, to be sure, is a wonderful work which
one can constantly read and reread with astonishment at
its perspicacity, after one's judgment has matured. But
let us not teach it to children, at least not without a com-
mentary, to the end that a child may learn to be content in
this life, without assuming all manner of magical powers,
and demanding that everyone be his slave, ostensibly be-
cause he was created in the image of God!

Closely related to this thirst for God-likeness is the
ideal of the fairy-tale Utopia where every dream comes
true. Children seldom count upon the reality of such
fairy pictures. Yet if we take cognizance of the exceed-
ingly great interest of children in magic, then we can
never doubt how easily they are allured thereby, and how
easy it is for them to sink themselves in such fantasies.
The idea of enchantment, of a magic influence upon others,
is found to a strong degree in some people, and may not
be lost until they are very old.

On one point perhaps no man is entirely free in his
thoughts: in the matter of the superstitious feeling that
women have a magical influence over men. One can find
many men who act as though they thought they were ex-
posed to the magical influence of their sexual partners. This
superstition leads us back to a time in which this belief
was held much more firmly than today. These were the
days in which a woman, on the merest pretext, ran the
danger of being called a witch or a magician, a prejudice

AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 217

which burdened the whole of Europe like a nightmare, and
determined its history in part, for many decades. If one re-
calls that a million women were the victims of this delusion,
one cannot speak any longer simply of harmless mistakes,
but must compare the influence of this superstition to the
horrors of the Inquisition, or of the World War.

The satisfaction of one's vanity through the misuse of
one's desire for religious satisfaction, is also found on the
trail of the striving for God-likeness. We have only to
remark how important it may be to an individual who
has suffered psychic shipwreck, to remove himself from
other human beings, and engage in personal conversation
with God! Such an individual considers himself quite in
the proximity of God, Who is duty-bound, by virtue of the
worshipper's pious prayers and orthodox ritual, to per-
sonally concern Himself with the worshipper's well-being.
Such religious hocus-pocus is usually so far from true
religion that it impresses us as being purely psychopatho-
logical. We have heard a man say that he could not fall
asleep unless he had said some definite prayer, because
if he had not sent this prayer to heaven, some human being
somewhere would have a misfortune. To understand this
whole flimsy soap-bubble-blowing it is but necessary to
produce the negative corollary of some such statement,
and interpret it. **If I say my prayer no harm can come
to him," would be the proposition in this instance. These
are the ways in which one can easily achieve a magical
greatness. Through this paltry trick a human being really
succeeds in diverting a misfortune in the life of another
human being at a definite time. In the day-dreams of
such religious individuals we can find similar movements
which reach out beyond, the measure of humanity. In these
day-dreams are disclosed empty gestures, brave deeds,
which are quite incapable of actually changing the nature

218 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

of things, but succeed very well in the imagination of
the day-dreamer in preventing him from coming into con-
tact with reality.

In our civilization there is one thing which seems to have
a magic power, and that is money. Many people believe
that you can do anything with money that you may wish.
It is not strange therefore that their ambition and vanity
occupies itself with the question of money and property
alone. Their ceaseless striving for the acquisition of
worldly goods now becomes comprehensible. To us it seems
almost pathological. Again, nothing but a form of vanity
which attempts, by the heaping up of possessions, to pro-
duce a certain semblance of the enchanter's power. One of
those very wealthy men who, although he should have had
quite enough, continued to chase after money, admitted
after the beginning of a delusional insanity: **Yes, do you
know that (money) is the power which constantly allures
me again and again!" This man understood it, but many
dare not understand it. The possession of power is so closely
allied with the possession of money and property today,
and the striving for money and property seems so natural
in our civilization, that no one pays any attention to the
fact that many of the individuals who do nothing but chase
after gold are spurred on by their vanity.

In conclusion we will report another case which will
show all the single aspects we have previously discussed,
and at the same time give us an understanding of another
phenomenon in which vanity plays a great role, and that is
the condition of delinquency. The case concerns a brother
and sister. The brother, who was the younger, was consid-
ered untalented, whereas the older sister had a reputation
for exceptional ability. When the brother could not main-
tain the competition any longer he gave up the race. He was

AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 219

pushed into the background although everyone attempted
to remove difficulties from his path. At the same time he
carried a hea^^ burden with him which amounted to the
seeming acknowledgment that he was untalented. One had
taught him from his earliest childhood days that his sister
would always conquer the difficulties of life easily, whereas
he was fit only for insignificant things. In this way, be-
cause of the better position of his sister, people cred-
ited him with an inadequacy which actually did not
exist.

Burdened with this great load he came to school. His
was the career of a pessimistically inclined child who
sought to avoid the discovery and recognition of his in-
ability at all costs. As he grew older there arose also the
desire not to be forced to play the role of the stupid boy,
but to be treated like an adult. At the age of fourteen he
had often taken part in the society of grown-ups, but his
deep feeling of inferiority was a thorn in his side which
forced him to consider how he could play the role of gen-
tleman who had already grown up.

His path thus led one day into the domain of prostitu-
tion, and there he has remained to this time. As the ex-
penditure of money was closely related to his interest in
prostitutes, while at the same time his desire to play the
grown-up prevented him from begging money of his fa-
ther, he began to rob his father of any funds he considered
necessary. He was not at all pained by these thefts, and he
considered himself somewhat in the manner of a grown-up
who was the treasurer of his father's money. This con-
tinued until one day he was threatened with a severe fail-
ure in school. To be demoted would have been an evidence
of his inability which he dared not publish.

The following events now occurred: He was suddenly

220 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

struck with pangs of remorse and conscience, which inter-
fered sadly with his studies. His situation was bettered
by this trick because now, should he fail, he would have
an excuse for the world. He was so martyred by his re-
morse that everyone else in a similar position would also
have failed in their studies. At the same time a high degree
of distraction hindered him in his studies because it forced
him to think of other things. A day was passed in this way,
night came and he went to sleep conscious of the fact that
he had tried to study, although in reality he was one of
those who did not pay the least attention to his work.
What happened after this also helped him to carry out his
role.

He was forced to rise at an early hour. As a result he
was sleepy and tired the whole day long and could not
pay any attention whatsoever to his work. One certainly
could not demand that he compete with his sister ! Now it
was not his lack of talent which was at fault, but the fatal
concomitant phenomena, his remorse, the pangs of con-
science, which left him no peace. At last he was armed on
all sides and nothing could happen to him. If he failed,
there were extenuating circumstances, and no one could say
that he was untalented. Should he succeed it was the proof
of his ability which no one would admit.

"When we see such tricks as these we may be sure that
vanity is the cause of them. In this case we can see how
far one can expose himself even to the danger of de-
linquency in order to avoid the discovery of an alleged,
but not actually existing, lack of talent. Ambition and
vanity produce such complications and side tracks in
life. They rob one of all candor and of all true pleasures,
of all true joy and happiness in life. Examine more
sharply and we find for cause nothing but a stupid mis-
take!

AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 221

II. Jealousy

Jealousy is a character trait which is interesting be-
cause of its extraordinary frequency. By jealousy is meant
not only the jealousy of love relationships, but also the
jealousy which is to be found in all other human relation-
ships. Thus, in childhood, we find children who develop
jealousy in an attempt to be superior to one another ; these
same children may also develop ambition, and indicate
their belligerent attitude to the world with both these
traits. Jealousy, sister of ambition, a character trait which
may last a life time, arises from the feeling of being neg-
lected and the sense of being discriminated against.

Jealousy occurs almost universally among children with
the advent of a younger brother or sister who demands
more attention from his parents, and gives an older child
occasion to feel like a dethroned king. Those children
become especially jealous who basked in the warm sun-
shine of their parents' love previous to the advent of the
younger child. The case of a little girl who had committed
three murders by the time she was eight years of age, shows
to what lengths this feeling may go.

This little girl was a somewhat backward child who was
prevented from doing any work because she was delicate.
She found herself, consequently, in a relatively pleasant
situation. This pleasant situation changed suddenly when
she was six years old, and a sister arrived in the house-
hold. A total transformation took place in her soul, and
she persecuted her younger sister with a ruthless hate.
The parents, who could not understand her behavior, be-
came strict, and attempted to show this child her respon-
sibility for every misdeed. It happened that one day a little
girl was found dead in the brook which passed by the vil-
lage in which this family lived. Some time later another

222 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

girl was found drowned, and finally our patient was caught
just in the moment that she had thrown a third young child
into the water. She admitted her murders, was put into an
insane asylum for observation, and was finally placed in a
sanatorium for further education.

In this case, the little girl's jealousy of her own sister
was transferred to other young children. It was noticed
that she had no hostile sentiments toward boys, and it
seemed as though she saw the picture of her younger sister
in these murdered children, and had attempted to satisfy
her feeling of vengeance, for her neglect, in her murderous
deeds.

Manifestations of jealousy can be produced even more
easily when there are brothers and sisters. It is well known
that in our civilization the fate of a girl child is not al-
luring; she can be easily discouraged when she sees her
brother greeted more vociferously on his advent into the
world, treated with greater care and respect, and allowed
all manner of advantages from which a girl is excluded.

A relationship like this naturally gives rise to hostility.
It may happen that an older sister will express her love,
treat a younger brother like a mother, yet psychologically,
this need not be different from the first case. If an older
girl assumes the mother attitude to younger children, then
she has regained a position of power where she can act and
behave as she will; the trick enables her to create a valu-
able asset out of a dangerous position.

Exaggerated competition between brothers and sisters
is one of the most frequent causes of family jealousy. A
girl feels neglected, and drives unremittingly to overcome
her brothers. Not infrequently, as a result of her industry
and energy, she succeeds in outdistancing a brother, na-
ture coming to her aid in the matter. A girl develops more
quickly, both spiritually and physically, in her adolescence.

AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 223

than a boy, although this difference is slowly equalized
in the course of the following years.

Jealousy has a thousand shapes. It may be recognized
in mistrust and the preparation of ambushes for others,
in the critical measurement of one's fellows, and in the
constant fear of being neglected. Just which of these
manifestations comes to the fore is dependent entirely
upon the previous preparation for social life. One form
of jealousy expresses itself in self-destruction, another
expresses itself in energetic obstinacy. Spoiling the sport
of others, senseless opposition, the restriction of another's
freedom, and his consequent subjugation, are some of the
protean shapes of this character trait.

Giving the other fellow a set of rules for his conduct is
one favorite trick of jealousy. It is this characteristic psy-
chic pattern along which an individual moves, when he at-
tempts to foist certain laws of love upon his mate, when he
builds a waU around his loved one, or prescribes where he
should look, what he should do, and how he should think.
Jealousy can also be put to the purpose of degrading and
reproaching another; these are but means to an end: to
rob another of his freedom of will, to set him in a rut, or
to chain him down. A magnificent description of this type
of behavior is to be found in Dostoyevsky 's novel Netots-
chka Njesumnowa, in which a man succeeds in op-
pressing his wife for her whole life, and thus expressing
his dominance over her, by utilizing the trick we have
just discussed. We see, therefore, that jealousy is an es-
pecially well-marked form of the striving for power.

III. Envy

Where there is a striving for power and domination,
one can with certainty find the trait of envy in ad-

224* UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

dition. The gulf between an individual and his supernat-
urally high goal expresses itself in the form of an inferior-
ity complex. It oppresses him, and acquires such an influ-
ence upon his general behavior and his attitude toward life
that one has the impression that he is a long way from his
goal. His own low evaluation of himself, and his constant
dissatisfaction with life are unfailing indicators thereof.
He begins to spend his time in measuring the success of
others, in occupying himself with what others think of him,
or of what others have accomplished. He is always the vic-
tim of a sense of neglect, and he feels that discrimination
has been exercised against him. Such an individual may
actually have more than others. The various manifestations
of this feeling of being neglected are indices of an un-
satisfied vanity, of a desire to have more than one's neigh-
bor, or indeed, to have everything. Envious people of this
type do not say that they wish to have everything because
the actual existence of a social feeling prevents them from
thinking these thoughts. But they act as if they wanted to
have everything.

The feeling of envy which grows up in the process of
this constant measuring of others' success does not lead
to greater possibilities of achieving happiness. The uni-
versality of the social feeling causes the universal dislike
of envy; yet there are but few who are not capable of
some envy. None of us is entirely free of it. In the even
tenor of life it may often not be evident, ypt when a man
suffers, or feels himself oppressed, or la9ks for money,
food, dress, or warmth, when his hope for the future is
darkened, and he sees no way out of his unfortunate situa-
tion, then envy appears.

We human beings stand today in the beginning of our
civilization. Although our ethics and our religion forbid
feelings of envy, we have not yet psychologically matured

AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 225

enough to do without them. One can well understand the
envy of the impecunious. Such envy would be incompre-
hensible only if someone could prove that, placed in the
same position, he would not be envious. All that we wish
to say concerning this is that we must reckon with this
factor in the contemporary situation in the human soul.
The fact is that envy arises in the individual, or in the
group, as soon as one limits their activity too much. But
when envy appears in those most disagreeable forms which
we cannot ever approve, we do not actually know any
means of obviating such envy and the frequently associated
hate. One thing is clear to everyone who lives in our so-
ciety, and that is that one should not put such tendencies
to the test, nor provoke them; and that one should have
sufficient tact not to accentuate any envious expressions
which might be expected. Nothing is bettered by this
course, it is true. Yet the very least we can demand of
an individual is this: that he should not parade any tem-
porary superiority over his fellows. He may too easily
injure someone by the useless exhibition of his power.

The inseparable connection between the individual and
society is indicated in the origin of this character trait. No
one can lift himself above society, demonstrate his power
over his fellows, without simultaneously arousing the op-
position of others who want to prevent his success. Envy
forces us to institute all those measures and rules whose
purpose is the establishment of equality in all human
beings. Finally we come rationally to a thesis which we
have felt intuitively: the law of the equality of all human
heings. This law may not be broken without immediately
producing opposition and discord. It is one of the funda-
mental laws of human society.

The manifestations of envy are easily recognized, some-
times, indeed, in the very look of an individual. Envious

226 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

traits whicli people have long used in their figures of
speech have a physiological concomitant. One speaks of
** green ^* or '^pale'' envy, pointing to the fact that envy
influences the circulation of the blood. The organic expres-
sion of envy is found in the peripheral contraction of the
capillary arteries.

So far as the pedagogic significance of envy is concerned,
we have but one course. Since we cannot entirely destroy
it, we must make it useful. This can be done by giving it
a channel in which it can be made fruitful, without caus-
ing too great a shock to the psychic life. This holds good
for the individual, as well as for a crowd. In the case of
the individual we can prescribe an occupation which will
elevate his self-esteem; in the life of nations, we can do
nothing else than to show new ways to the development of
innate, undeveloped powers to those nations which feel
themselves neglected and watch their happier neighbors,
fruitlessly envious of their better situation in the family
of nations.

Anyone who has been envious all his life is useless for
communal life. He will be interested solely in taking some-
thing away from another, in depriving him in some fashion,
and in disturbing him. Simultaneously he will have the
tendency to fix alibis for the goals which he has not at-
tained, and blame others for his failures. He will be a
fighter, a marplot, one who has no great love for good re-
lationships, who has no part in the business of making him-
self useful to others. Since he hardly gives himself the
trouble to sympathize with the situation of others, he has
little understanding for human nature. He will not be
moved by the fact that someone else suffers because of his
actions. Envy may go so far as to lead a man to feel pleas-
ure in the pain of his neighbor.

AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 227

IV. Avarice

Avarice is closely related, and usually found, in the bad
company of envy. By avarice we mean not only that form
of greed which expresses itself in the hoarding of money,
but also that more general form which expresses itself
chiefly in that one is unable to give pleasure to another,
that one is avaricious in his attitude toward society, and
every other individual. The avaricious individual builds a
wall about himself to be secure in the possession of his
wretched treasures. On one hand, we recognize the con-
nection with ambition and vanity, and on the other hand,
the relationship to envy may be found. It is not an over-
statement to say that all these character traits are usually
present at the same time, and therefore, it is no astonish-
ing trick of mind-reading, when one has discovered one of
these traits, to declare that the others also are present.

Almost everyone in the civilization of today shows
traces, at least, of avarice. The best the average man does
is to veil it or hide it behind an exaggerated generosity,
which is the equivalent of nothing more than the giving
of alms, an attempt, through gestures of generosity, to
elevate the personality-sense at the expense of others.

Under circumstances it would appear that avarice is
actually a valuable quality, as when it is directed toward
certain forms of life. One may be avaricious of one's time,
or labor, and in the course of this actually do a great piece
of work. There is a scientific and moral tendency in our
present day which pushes this ** time-greed '^ into the fore-
ground, even demanding that everyone be economical of
his time and labor. This sounds very well in theory, but
wherever we see this thesis applied practically, we can al-
ways find that some individual goal of superiority and

228 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

power is being served. This theoretically acquired thesis
is frequently misused, the greed for time and labor is di-
rected toward shifting the real burdens of work upon the
shoulders of others. We can judge such activity, as all ac-
tivity, only by the standard of its universal usefulness.
It is a characteristic of the development of our technical
age that human beings are treated as though they were
machines, and that laws for life are given much as laws
are given for technical activity. In the latter case such
rules are often justified; but in the case of human beings
they lead eventually to isolation, loneliness, and the de-
struction of human relationships. It will therefore be bet-
ter to adjust our lives so that we would rather give, than
save. This is a law which must not be taken from its con-
text, with which one must not be allowed to practice mis-
chief; with which one cannot, indeed, do mischief if one
keeps the common weal in mind.

y. Hate )

It is not seldom that we find hate as a characteristic of
belligerent people. Tendencies to hate (which frequently
appear early in childhood) may achieve a very high in-
tensity, as in temper tantrums, while at the same time they
appear in a milder form as nagging and maliciousness.
The degree to which anyone is capable of hating and nag-
ging is a good index of his personality. We know much
about his soul when we have learned this fact, for hate
and malice lend the personality a characteristic color.

Hate directs itself in various ways. It may be pointed
towards various tasks which one must perform, against
single individuals, against a nation, or a class, against a
race or against the other sex. Hate does not appear openly,
but like vanity, knows how to mask itself and appear, for

AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 229

instance, in the guise of a general critical attitude. Hate
may expand itself in breaking all contact possibilities
which an individual may have. Sometimes the degree to
which an individual may hate is suddenly disclosed, as by
a stroke of lightning. This occurred in the case of a
patient who, himself exempted from war service, related
how much he enjoyed reading the reports of the gruesome
slaughter and destruction of others.

In crime we see much of this. In milder forms, hate ten-
dencies may play a great role in our social life, appearing
in forms which need not be at all insulting or horrify-
ing. Misanthropy, that form of hate which betrays a very
high degree of hostility to mankind, is one of these veiled
forms. There are whole philosophical schools which are
so permeated with hostility and misanthropy that they
may be considered equivalent to coarser, undisguised
hostile acts of cruelty and brutality. The veil is sometimes
drawn aside in the biographies of famous men. It is less
important to meditate on the inevitable truth of this state-
ment than it is to remember that hate and cruelty may
sometimes exist in an artist who ought to stand close to
humanity if he wishes to create valid art.

The many ramifications of hate are to be found every-
where. If we do not examine them all here it is because
it would take us too far afield to demonstrate all the re-
lationships of single character traits to a general misan-
thropy. Certain occupations and professions, for instance,
cannot be chosen without a certain misanthropic cast of
mind. Grillparzer once said, ''that a man's cruel instincts
get a satisfying expression in his poetry. ' ' This by no means
goes to say that these professions cannot be carried out
without hate. Quite the contrary. In the very moment that
an individual who is hostile to mankind decides to acquire
an occupation, such as a military career, all his hostile

230 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

tendencies are so directed that they fit, at least outwardly,
into the social scheme. This happens as a result of the
adjustment he must make to his organization, and because
of the necessity of being connected with others who also
have assumed this profession.

One form in which the hostile feelings are particularly
well disguised are those actions which come under the
head of ** criminal negligence/' ^'Criminal negligence"
toward man or property is characterized by the fact that
the negligent individual loses sight of all those considera-
tions which the social feeling demands. The legal aspects
of this question have caused unending discussion, but
have never been entirely satisfactorily cleared up. It is
self-understood that an action which might be termed
** criminally negligent" is not identical with a crime. If
we place a flower pot so close to the edge of a window
that the slightest tremor might cause it to fall upon the
head of some passerby, it is not the same as if we took
this flower pot and actually threw it at someone. But the
** criminally negligent" behavior of some individuals is
unmistakably related to crime and is one other key to the
understanding of human beings. In law, the fact that the
*' criminally negligent" act is not consciously intended is
considered an extenuating circumstance, yet there is no
doubt that an unconsciously hostile act is based upon the
same degree of hostility as a consciously malicious deed.
In observing the play of children one can always notice
that certain children pay less attention to the welfare of
others. We may be certain that they are not friendly
toward their fellows. One should wait until one has further
evidence to prove this fact, but if one finds that whenever
these children are playing, some misfortune is sure to oc-
cur, we must admit that this child is unaccustomed to keep
the welfare of his playfellows in mind.

AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 231

At this point let us pay particular attention to our
business life. Business is not especially adapted to con-
vince us of the similarity between negligence and hostility.
Business men have little concern for the welfare of com-
petitors, or much interest in that social feeling which we
consider so essential. A number of business procedures
and enterprises are built clearly on the theory that the
advantage of one business man can result only from the
disadvantage of another. As a rule there is no punishment
for such procedure even though there is a conscious ma-
licious intention. These everyday business procedures in
which there is a deficient social feeling, just as there is
in ''criminal negligence/^ poison our whole social life.

Even those who have the best of intentions, must, under
the pressure of business, protect themselves as far as pos-
sible. We overlook the fact that this personal protection
is usually accompanied by damage to someone else. We
call attention to these matters because they explain the
difficulty of exercising the social feeling under the pres-
sure of business competition. Some solution must be found,
so that cooperation of every individual toward the com-
mon weal will be made easier instead of more difficult, as is
usually the case today. As a matter of fact the soul of
mankind has been automatically at work attempting to
effect a better order, in order to protect itself as best it
may. Psychology must cooperate and set about under-
standing these changes to the end that it may not only
understand business relationships, but also for the sake
of understanding the psychic apparatus which plays its
role at the same time. Only in this way can we know what
may be expected of the individual and society.

Negligence is widespread in family, school, and life.
We can find it in most of our institutions. Every now and
again someone who does not consider his fellows in any

232 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

way, finds his way into the head-lines. Naturally he does
not go unpunished. The behavior of an inconsiderate hu-
man being usually ends unpleasantly for him. Sometimes
this punishment follows only after many years. * * The mills
of the Gods grind slowly." It may be so long afterwards
that the connection is not understood by one who has never
tried to test his behavior with controls, who does not under-
stand the relationship of cause and effect. Hence the com-
plaints about an undeserved misfortune! The evil fate
itself may be ascribed to the fact that others, who will
no longer bear the inconsideration of their fellow, give
up their personally well-intended efforts after a time,
and withdraw themselves from his company.

Despite any apparent justification for criminally negli-
gent deeds, it will be found on closer inspectiou, that they
are the expressions of an essential misanthropy. For in-
stance, a chauffeur who is driving over the speed limit, and
has run over someone, will excuse himself by pleading an
important appointment. We recognize in him a man whose
petty personal affairs are placed above the welfare of his
fellows, so that the dangers to which he exposes them are
overlooked. The disparity between a man's personal af-
fairs and the welfare of society gives us an index of his
hostility to humanity.

CHAPTER III

NON-AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS

Those character traits which are not openly hostile
toward humanity, but give one the impression of a hos-
tile isolation, may be grouped among the non-aggressive
traits. It would seem as if the stream of hostility had been
side-tracked. "We have the impression of a psychic detour.
Here we have the individual who never harms anyone, but
withdraws from life and mankind, avoids aU contact, and
fails, because of his isolation, to cooperate with his fellows.
The tasks of life, however, can be solved for the most part
only in communal work. An individual who isolates him-
self may be suspected of the same hostility as one who
wages open and direct warfare upon society. An enormous
field of research discloses itself for our inspection and we
shall demonstrate several of the outstanding manifesta-
tions more closely. The first trait which we must consider
is timidity and seclusiveness.

I. Seclusiveness

Seclusiveness and isolation appear in a variety of forms.
People who detach themselves from society speak little,
or not at all, do not look their fellows in the eye, do not
listen, or are inattentive when one speaks to them. In all
social relations, even the simplest ones, they exhibit a
certain frigidity which serves to separate them from their
fellows. One feels this coldness in their manners and their
233

234 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

deeds, in the way in whicli they shake hands, in the tone
in which they speak, in the fashion with which they greet
or refuse to greet others. They seem to be creating a dis-
tance between themselves and their fellows with every
gesture.

In all these mechanisms of isolation we find an under-
current of ambition and vanity. These people attempt to
raise themselves above others by accentuating their dif-
ferences from society. The most that they can win is an
imaginary glory. A belligerent hostility is evident in the
seemingly innocuous attitude of these exiles. Isolation may
be a trait of larger groups. Everyone knows whole families
whose life is hermetically sealed against approach from
the outside. Their hostility, their conceit, and their belief
that they are better and nobler than everyone else, is un-
mistakable. Isolation may be a trait of classes, religions,
races, or nations, and it is sometimes an extraordinarily
illuminating experience to walk through a strange town
and see how, in the very structure of homes and dwellings,
distinct social strata isolate themselves from others.

A deep-rooted trend of our culture allows human beings
to isolate themselves into nations, creeds, and classes. Con-
flict, expressed in senile impotent traditions, is the sole
result. It further enables some individuals to make use of
latent contradictions, to set one group to fighting another,
in order to satisfy their personal vanity. Such a class, or
such an individual, considers itself especially excellent, val-
ues its spirit most highly, and occupies itself chiefly in
demonstrating the evil of other people. The champions who
work so hard to accentuate the difficulties between classes
or nations, do so chiefly to heighten their personal vanity.
If unfortunate events, such as the World War and its con-
sequences, occur, they will be the last persons to take the
blame for having started them. Hounded by their own in-

NON-AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 235

security, these troublemakers attempt to realize a sense of
superiority and independence at the cost of others. Isola-
tion is their sorry fate and their tiny cosmos. That they are
not capable of progress and culture in our civilization, is
self -understood.

II. Anxiety

The character of the misanthrope is frequently colored
with anxiety. Anxiety is an extraordinarily wide-spread
trait. It accompanies an individual from earliest child-
hood to old age, it embitters his life to a marked degree,
keeps him from all human contacts, and destroys his hope
of building up a peaceful life, or of making fruitful con-
tributions to the world. Fear can touch every human
activity. One can be afraid of the outer world, or afraid
of the world within himself.

One man avoids society because he is afraid of it.
Another may be afraid to be alone. Among the anxious
ones we will always find that well-known individual who
must think more of himself than of his fellows. Once let
anyone assume the standpoint that he must avoid all the
difficulties of life, the appearance of anxiety will serve to
reinforce him whenever necessary. There are people whose
first reaction is always anxiety when they are about to be-
gin something, whether this be merely leaving their house,
or parting from a companion, or getting a job, or falling
in love. They are so little connected with life and with their
fellow man that every change of situation is accompanied
by fear.

The development of their personality and their ability
to contribute to the world's welfare is markedly inhibited
by this trait. It is not absolutely necessary to tremble and
run away! One's steps need but grow slower, one need

236 UNDERSTANDING HUIMAN NATURE

but seek for all manner of alibis and excuses. For the
most part the fearful individual is not aware that his
anxious attitude comes to the surface whenever a new sit-
uation appears.

It is very interesting (in affirmation of our concept)
to find people who are constantly thinking of the past or of
death. To think of the past is an unobtrusive, and there-
fore well beloved, means of oppressing oneself. Fear of
death, or of sickness, is a characteristic of people who are
seeking for an excuse to avoid all duties and obligations.
They lay stress loudly on the fact that everything is van-
ity, that life is so short, or that no one can know what will
happen. The consolation of heaven and the hereafter has
much the same effect. For individuals whose real goal lies
in the hereafter, the business of life on this world be-
comes a highly superfluous striving, a worthless phase of
development. Individuals of the first type avoid all tests
because their ambition prevents them from submitting to
an examination which would disclose their real worth. In
the second type we find, for our illumination, that it is the
same God, the same goal of superiority over others, for
which they strive, the same vaulting ambition which makes
them unfitted for life.

We find anxiety in its first and more primitive form
in children who tremble when they are left alone. The
desire of such children is never satisfied when someone
comes to them; they use this accompaniment for other
purposes. If a mother leaves such a child alone, it calls
her back with evident anxiety. This gesture proves that
nothing has been changed. It does not matter whether
the mother is there or not. The child is far more concerned
with impressing her into his service, and ruling her.
This is a sign that one has not allowed the child to develop
any independence of spirit, but has given him the op-

NON-AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 237

portiinity, through mistaken treatment, to levy contribu-
tions of service upon his fellows.

The expressions of childish anxiety are universally
known. They become especially evident when darkness or
night makes connection with the environment or the be-
loved person more difficult. The scream of anxiety com-
pletes the bridge which has been broken, so to speak, by
night. Should someone hurry to the child the performance
which we have described above usually occurs. The child
demands that someone should turn on the lights, sit with
him, play with him, and the like. So long as one obeys,
his anxiety is dispelled, but the moment his sense of su-
periority is threatened, he becomes anxious again, and
through his anxiety fortifies his commanding position.

There are similar phenomena in the life of grown-ups.
There are individuals who do not like to go out alone.
One can recognize them on the street because of their anx-
ious gestures, and because of the anxious looks they cast
about them. Some people will not move from one place to
another, others seem to be running along the streets as if
they were being pursued by an enemy. One is sometimes
approached by a woman of this type who requests that one
help her across the street. These are not weak, sick, inva-
lids! They can walk quite easily, and are usually quite
healthy, but in the face of an insignificant difficulty they
are struck with anxiety and fear. Occasionally their anx-
iety and insecurity begin the very moment that they leave
the house. Agoraphobia, or the fear of open places, is in-
teresting for this reason. In the soul of sufferers from this
symptom the feeling of being the victim of some hostile
persecution is never dispelled. They believe that something
differentiates them entirely from other people. Fear that
they might fall (which means nothing more to us than
that they feel themselves very greatly elevated) is an ex-

238 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

pression of their attitude. In the pathological forms of fear,
the same goal of power and superiority may be seen. For
many people anxiety is an obvious device to compel some-
one to be close to them, and occupy themselves with the
person of the sufferer. Under such circumstances we see
that no one can leave the room lest the sufferer become
anxious again! Everyone must subjugate himself to the
patient's anxiety. The anxiety of one person thus imposes a
law upon the whole environment. Everyone must come to
the patient, while the patient need go to no one. He be-
comes the king who rules everyone else.

Fear of human beings can be dissolved solely by that
bond which binds the individual to humanity. Only that
individual can go through life vdthout anxiety who is
conscious of belonging to the fellowship of man.

Let us add an interesting example taken from the days
of the Revolution of 1918 (Austria). During these days a
number of patients suddenly declared that they were un-
able to come for their consultations. Asked for their
reasons they answered with words which signified for the
most part: these are such uncertain times that one can
never tell what kind of people one will meet upon the
street. If one is dressed better than the others one can
never tell what will happen.

The discouragement of those days was of course very
great yet it is remarkable that only certain individuals
drew these conclusions. Why did merely these people think
about it ? It is not simply by chance that they did so. Their
fear was the result of the fact that they had never had
any contact with human beings. They did not therefore,
feel themselves sufficiently secure, under the unusual cir-
cumstances of revolution, whereas others, who felt that
they belonged to society, felt no anxiety, and followed
their occupations as usual.

NON-AGORESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 239

Timidity is a milder if not less noteworthy form of
anxiety. What we have said of anxiety holds equally for
timidity. Let the relationships in which children are placed
be as simple as you will, timidity will always allow them
to avoid contacts, or break them when they are made. The
feeling of inferiority, and the sense of being different
from others, inhibits these children from finding any joy
in making new contacts.

III. Faint-heartedness

Faint-heartedness is a characteristic of those who feel
that every task which faces them is especially difficult; of
people who have no confidence in their powers to accom-
plish anything. As a rule this trait is evinced in the form
of slowed movements. Thus the distance between the in-
dividual and his approaching test or task, not only does
not quickly become smaller, but may even remain un-
changed. People who are always to be found elsewhere
when they should be applying themselves to some particu-
lar problem of life, belong to this group. Such individuals
suddenly discover that they are not at all fit for the pro-
fession which they have chosen, or they find all manner
of objections which serve so to annihilate their sense of
logic, that the assumption of this profession actually be-
comes impossible. Besides slowed movements, the expres-
sion of faint-heartedness is to be found in a certain
preoccupation with over-safety and over-preparation,
activities which have for their sole purpose the evasion of
all responsibility.

Individual Psychology has called the complex of ques-
tions applicable to this extraordinarily wide-spread phe-
nomenon, ''the problem of distance." It has created a
standpoint from which we can inexorably judge a human

240 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

being and measure his distance from the solution of the
three great problems of life. These problems are : the solu-
tion of the question of his social responsibilities, the re-
lationship between the ^'I*' and the *'you," the question
whether he has fostered his contact between himself and
his fellows in an approximately correct manner, or has
hindered this contact. The other questions and problems
are the problem of profession and occupation, and the
problem of love and marriage. From the degree of failure,
from the distance of an individual from the solution of
these problems, Tve may draw far-reaching conclusions as to
his personality. At the same time we can use the data which
we have gathered in this manner, to aid us in our under-
standing of human nature.

In cases of faint-heartedness, such as those we have
indicated, the basis may be found in the desire of an
individual to separate himself from his tasks by a greater
or lesser distance. There is, however, a bright side next to
the dark pessimism which we have described. "We may
assume that our patient has chosen his position entirely
because of this brighter side. If he approaches a task en-
tirely unprepared for it, then there are extenuating cir-
cumstances if he should fail, and his personality-sense
and vanity remain untouched. The situation becomes much
more secure, and he acts like a tight-rope walker who
knows there is a net beneath him. If he falls, he falls
softly, and if he approaches a job unprepared for it and
fails, his sense of personal value is not in danger because
he can say that a variety of causes have prevented a full
performance. Had he not started too late, or had he been
better prepared, success would have been certain. In this
way it is not a defect of the personality which is at fault,
but some petty circumstance for which he cannot be ex-
pected to assume responsibility. If he should succeed, his

NON-AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 241

success is the more brilliant. For if someone performs his
duties industriously, no one is surprised if he accomplishes
his end, as his success seems self-understood. If, on the
other hand, he begins too late, works but a little, or is
quite unprepared, and still solves his problem, he then
appears in quite another light. He becomes, so to speak,
a double hero who has done with one hand what others
can do only with two hands!

These are the advantages of psychic detours. Yet the
detour attitude betrays not only ambition, but also vanity,
and points to the fact that an individual likes to play a
heroic role, at least for himself. All his activity is directed
toward personal inflation, so that he may have the sem-
blance of particular powers.

Now let us consider other individuals who wish to avoid
the problems we have described above, and therefore create
difficulties for themselves to the end that they do not ap-
proach these problems at all, or at the most, only in a very
hesitant manner. On their detour we shall find them in-
volved in all those eccentricities of life such as laziness, in-
dolence, frequent change of occupation, delinquency, and
the like. Some people express this attitude toward life in
their external carriage, their gait being so pliant that they
seem to resemble snakes. This is surely not accidental.
With some reservations, one can evaluate them as indi-
viduals who want to avoid problems by making detours
about them.

A case taken from real life will show this clearly. It is
the case of a man who showed his disappointment with
life plainly, since he was bored with living, and thought
of nothing but suicide. Nothing gave him any pleas-
ure, and his whole attitude declared the fact that he
was through with living. The consultation showed that he
was the oldest of three brothers, and the child of an ex-

242 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

ceptionally ambitious father wlio had gone through life
with unbroken verve, and had accomplished rather a great
deal. The patient was the favorite child, who was expected
some day to walk in his father 's footsteps. The boy 's mother
died when he was very young, but possibly because he en-
joyed the protection of his father to a high degree, he got
on very well with his step-mother.

As a first born son he was the uncritical worshipper of
power and force. His every action and trait bore an im-
perialistic color. He succeeded in being the head of his
class in school, and after his graduation he took over his
father ^s business and behaved himself much as though
he were giving alms to those with whom he had contact.
He always spoke with friendly words, treated his work-
men well, paid them the highest wages and was always
amenable to reasonable requests.

Now a change came over his being after the Revolution
of 1918. He began complaining that he was embittered
by the unruly behavior of his employees. What they had re-
quested and received in other days, they now demanded.
He was so embittered that he became obsessed with the
idea of giving up his business.

Thus we see him making a wide detour on this front.
Usually he was a well-wishing executive, but in the moment
in which his power relationships were touched, he could
not play the game. His philosophy was not only disturb-
ing to the conduct of his factory, but also to the conduct
of his life. If he had not been so ambitious to prove that
he was master in his own house, he might have been ap-
proachable from this side, but for him the only thing that
counted was the domination by personal power. The logi-
cal development of social and business relationships made
such personal domination practically impossible. As a
result his whole occupation gave him no joy. His tendency

NON-AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 243

to withdraw was at the same time an assault and a com-
plaint against his refractory employees.

Now his vanity could take him only to a certain point.
The contradiction of the whole situation which suddenly
had occurred immediately involved him. Because of his
one-sided development he had lost the ability to change
his mind, and to develop a new principle of action. He
had become incapable of further development because his
only goal had been power and superiority. To this end
he had allowed his vanity to become the predominant
trait in his character.

If we inspect his relationships in life we find that his
social connections were highly inadequate. He would gather
about him only those who recognized his superiority and
obeyed his will, as we might have expected. At the same
time he was sharply critical, and since he was quite intelli-
gent, he occasionally succeeded in making very telling, de-
rogatory remarks. His sarcasm soon dispersed his friends,
and really he was without a single friend all the time. "What
he lacked in contact in human beings, he compensated by
pleasures of every kind.

But a veritable shipwreck of his personality occurred
only when he approached the problem of love and mar-
riage. Here the fate which one might have easily predicted
for him overtook him. Since love demands the deepest and
most comradely bond, it does not countenance imperious
desires in an individual. Now since he had always to be
the ruler, his choice of a partner in marriage had to be
appropriate to his desire. The imperious, superiority-
crazed individual will never choose a weak individual as
his love partner, but will seek one who must be conquered
and reconquered, so that each conquest appears as a new
victory. In this way two similarly-minded individuals,
whose marriage is an unbroken chain of battles, are drawn

244 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

to one another. This man chose for his wife a woman who,
in many ways, was even more imperious than he. True
to their principles, both of them had to seize every con-
ceivable weapon in order to maintain their domination.
Thus they grew farther and farther apart without daring
to divorce each other since each hoped for an ultimate vic-
tory, and were not to be lured from their connubial battle-
field.

A dream which our patient dreamt at this time is in-
dicative of his mood. He dreamt that he spoke with a
young woman who looked like a servant girl, and reminded
him of his bookkeeper. In his dream he addressed her and
said "But you see, I am of noble blood."

It is not difficult to understand what thought processes
were taking place in this dream. For one thing, there is the
manner with which he looks down upon other human be-
ings. Everyone appears to him as a servant, uncultured
and inferior, the more so if it happens to be a woman. We
must remember in this connection that he is at war with
his wife, so that we can assume that his wife is symbolized
by the figure in the dream.

No one understands our patient, and he himself under-
stands himself least of all, because he is constantly going
about, his nose in the air, seeking for his vain goal. His
separation from the world is paralleled by the arrogance
with which he demands recognition of his nobility, al-
though this is quite unjustified. At the same time he robs
all others of their worth. This is a philosophy of life in
which neither love nor friendship can find a place.

The arguments that are used to justify such psychic de-
tours are usually characteristic. For the most part they
are reasons which in themselves are quite rational and un-
derstandable, except that they are applicable to other
situations, and do not fit the present one. Our patient finds,

NON-AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 245

for instance, that he must cultivate society, and makes the
attempt. He joins a fraternity in which he wastes his time
in drinking and card playing, and similar useless occupa-
tions. He believes this is the only way in which he can
gather friends about him. Finally he comes home late at
night, is sleepy and tired the next morning, and points
out the fact that if one must cultivate society at least one
cannot always go to the Club, and the like. This rational-
ization might pass muster if he simultaneously applied
himself more to his work. Instead of this he was to be
found far from the fighting front as a result of his culti-
vation of society, as we might have expected. Obviously he
is in the wrong, even though he uses the correct argu-
ments !

This case proves clearly that it is not our objective ex-
periences which bring us from the straight path of develop-
ment, but our personal attitude and evaluation of events,
and the manner in which we evaluate and weigh occur-
rences. Here we have to do with the whole sphere of human
error. This case, and similar cases, show a chain of errors,
and the possibility of further errors. We must attempt to
examine arguments in conjunction with the whole behavior
pattern of an individual, to understand his errors, and to
overcome them by appropriate instructions. This process is
very similar to education. Education is nothing more than,
the removal of errors. To do this it is necessary to under-
stand how a faulty development in a false direction, based
on an error of interpretation, leads to a tragedy. We must
admire the wisdom of the ancient peoples who either rec-
ognized, or had a presentiment of this fact, when they
spoke of Nemesis, the avenging goddess. The misfortunes
which an individual suffers as a result of a mistaken de-
velopment, show clearly enough the direct consequences of
his personal worship of power instead of his interest in the

246 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

common weal. Such a cult of personal power forces him to
approach his goal by detours, without consideration for
the interests of his fellows, and at the expense of an unre-
mitting fear at the thought of defeat. At this point in his
development we usually find the nervous ailments and
manifestations whose especial purpose and meaning is that
they prevent an individual from accomplishing some task.
These symptoms serve to indicate to him that, according to
his experience, every step forward is bound up with extra-
ordinary dangers.

^^ Society has no place for deserters, A certain adaptability
and subordination are necessary to play the game, to be
helpful, not to assume leadership simply for the purpose
of ruling. The truth of this law, many of us have observed
in ourselves, or in others in our environment. We know
individuals who may pay visits, behave themselves well,
who do not disturb others, but are not able to be warm
friends because their striving for power prevents them. It
is not strange that others cannot become warm toward
them. An individual of this class will sit quietly at a table,
and not show the outer aspects of a happily constituted
human being. He will prefer a dialogue to an open dis-
cussion, and will show his true character in insignificant
things. He will for instance go to great lengths to prove
himself right, even when his Tightness is of little concern
to others. It will soon be seen that the argument itself is
of little value to him so long as he is proven in the right,
and others in the wrong. Again, at the point of detour, he
shows puzzling manifestations, becomes tired without know-
ing why, gets into a hurry which never brings him for-
ward, cannot sleep, loses his powers, has all kinds of com-
plaints. In short we hear nothing from him but complaints
for which he can give no adequate reasons. He seems to be
a sick man, he is ''nervous.*'

NON-AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 24T

In actuality all these are crafty devices for diverting his
attention from the indicators that point out the true state
of affairs which he fears. It is no accident that he has
chosen these weapons. Think of the stubborn rebelliousness
of a man who is afraid of that universal phenomenon,
night ! We can rest assured, when we see such a one, that he
has never been reconciled with the business of living on
this earth. Nothing else would satisfy his ego but to do
away with night ! He demands this as a set condition of his
adjustment to a normal life. But by setting this impossible
condition he betrays his bad intentions ! He is a no-sayer to
life!

All nervous manifestations of this sort originate at that
point where the nervous individual becomes frightened of
the problems he must solve, and what are they but these
necessary duties and obligations of every-day life? When
these appear on the horizon he looks for an excuse, either
to approach them more slowly, or under extenuating cir-
cumstances, or he seeks an alibi for avoiding them entirely.
In this way he simultaneously avoids those obligations
which are necessary for the maintenance of human society,
and injures not only his immediate environment, but, in
larger relationships, everyone else. If we understood human
nature better, and were in a position to keep in mind that
terrible causality which effects these tragic results at some
distant time, we might long ago have made such symptoms
impossible. It does not pay to attack the logical and im-
manent laws of human society. Because of the long time
element, and the innumerable complications which may
occur, we are seldom enabled to fix these connections be-
tween crime and retribution exactly, and draw illuminating
conclusions from them. Only when we allow a whole life's
behavior pattern to unfold before us, and intensively
study the history of a human being, are we able, with much

248 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

care, to gain insight into these connections, and to demon-
strate where the original mistake was made.

IV. Untamed Instincts as the Expression op
Lessened Adaptation

There are people who show a character trait which we
might call uncouthness or lack of civilization to a remark-
able degree. Those who bite their nails, or constantly pick
their noses, and others who throw themselves upon food bo
that their behavior gives the impression of an untamed pas-
sion for eating, belong in this class. That these manifesta-
tions are significant is clear the minute that we watch
such an individual who approaches his meals like a hungry
wolf, and knows no inhibition nor shame in expressing his
greed. What noisy eating ! The biggest bites disappear into
the abyss of his maw! What remarkable speed in eating!
How much he eats! And how often! Has not everyone
seen individuals who are not happy if they are not always
eating something?

Another manifestation of uncouthness is dirtiness and
disorderliness. The lack of formality of people who have
much work to do, or the natural disorder which one can oc-
casionally find when a man is hard at work, is not meant
here. The type referred to usually does not work, usually
remains far from all useful work, yet will never be free of
external disorder and filth. These are individuals who seem
to seek dilapidation and offensiveness, and we could 'not
imagine them without their characteristic trait.

These are but some of the external characteristics of an
uncouth human being. They clearly show us that he is not
playing the game, and wants really, to remove himself from
other human beings. People who commit these and other un-
couth acts lead us to believe that they have little use for

NON-AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 249

their fellows. Most uncouthnesses begin in cliildliood, for
hardly any children develop in a straight-away line, but
there are grown-ups who have never overcome these child-
ish traits.

At the basis of these manifestations is a more or less
well-marked disinclination of these uncouth people to
meet with their fellow-men. Every uncouth individual
wishes to hold himself distant from life, and is disinclined
to cooperate. That they are not amenable to moralizing
preachments to give up their uncouthness is easily com-
prehensible, for when one is disinclined to play the game
of life according to the rules, he is, as a matter of fact,
quite right in biting his nails or in exhibiting some similar
trait. There is really hardly a better way of avoiding hu-
man beings, no more effective means to this end, than to
appear always in a dirty collar, or in a spotted suit. What
could prevent him more absolutely from holding a position
in which he is subject to criticism and competition and
the attention of others, or what would be more favorable in
his retreat from love or marriage, than if he would appear
always in this fashion? He loses out in the competition as
a matter of course, and at the same time he has an actual
excuse in that he always blames it on his uncouthness,
*^What couldn't I do if I didn't have this bad habit!" he
exclaims, but in an aside he whispers his alibi, *' Unfor-
tunately, I have it, however!"

Let us show one case in which a barbarism became an
instrument of self defense and was used in order to tyran-
nize the environment. It is the case of a twenty-two-year-
old girl who was a bed-wetter. She was the next to the last
child in her family, and because of the fact that she was a
weak and sickly child enjoyed the particular solicitude of
her mother, on whom she was exceptionally dependent. She
managed to chain her mother to her by day and by night,

250 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

by means of anxiety states during the day, and night ter-
rors and bed-wetting, at night. In its beginning this must
have been a triumph for her, a balsam for her vanity. She
succeeded in retaining her mother for herself, by means of
her misbehavior, at the expense of her brothers and sisters.

This girl was exceptional also in that she could not be
moved to make friends, go into society, nor attend school.
She was particularly anxious when she had to leave the
house, and even when she grew older, and had to run er-
rands in the evening, walking alone at night was agony
for her. She came home thoroughly fatigued and anxious,
and told all manner of terrible stories of the dangers which
she had run. We can see how all these traits signified only
that this young woman wanted to remain constantly at her
mother's side, but since financial circumstances would not
allow this, an occupation had to be found for her. She was
finally almost driven to take a position, but after two brief
days, her old disease, bed-wetting, returned, forced her to
give up her position because her employers were incensed
at her. Her mother who did not understand the true mean-
ing of her illness, reproached her bitterly. The young
woman then attempted suicide, and was taken to a hospi-
tal ; and now her mother swore to her that she would never
leave her again.

All these things, the bed-wetting, fear of the night, her
fear of being alone, and her attempted suicide, were di-
rected toward the same goal. For us they mean: *'I must
remain close to my mother, or, mother must pay constant
attention to me!" In this way an uncouthness, the habit
of bed-wetting, acquires a valid meaning. Now we can rec-
ognize that a human being may be judged according to
such bad habits. At the same time we know that these mis-
takes can be removed only when we understand the pa-
tient entirely, and according to his context.

NON-AGGRESSIVE CHARACTER TRAITS 251

By and large, we shall usually find childish barbarisms
and bad habits are directed toward acquiring the attention
of the adult environment. Children who want to play a
grand role, or show their grown-ups how weak and inca-
pable they are, will make use of them. The common trait
of behaving very badly while visiting strangers are pres-
ent, has a similar meaning. The best-behaved children
sometimes seem to be possessed of the devil as soon as a
guest enters the house. The child wants to play a role and
does not stop his attempts to do so until his purpose has
been gained in some manner which seems satisfactory to
him. When such children grow up they will attempt to
evade the demands of society by some such barbarisms,
or they will attempt to frustrate the common weal by
making it difficult for others to get along. An imperious,
ambitious vanity is hidden beneath all such manifestations.
Only the fact that these manifestations are varied and well
disguised prevents us from recognizing clearly what their
cause is, and to what end they are directed.

CHAPTER IV

OTHER EXPRESSIONS OF CHARACTER

I. Cheerfulness

We have already drawn attention to the fact that we
can easily measure anyone's social feeling by learning
to what degree he is prepared to serve, to help, and to give
pleasure to others. The talent for bringing pleasure to
^others makes a man more interesting. Happy people ap-
proach us more easily and we judge them emotionally as be-
ing more sympathetic. It seems that we sense these traits as
indicators of a highly developed social feeling, quite instinc-
tively. There are people who appear cheerful, who do not
go about forever oppressed and solicitous, who do not un-
load their worries upon every stranger. They are quite
capable, when in the company of others, to radiate this
cheerfulness and make life more beautiful and meaningful.
One can sense that they are good human beings, not only
in their actions, but in the manner in which they approach,
in which they speak, in which they pay attention to our
interests, as well as in their entire external aspect, their
clothes, their gestures, their happy emotional state, and in
their laughter. That far-seeing psychologist, Dostoyevsky,
has said that **One can recognize a person ^s character
much better by his laughter than by a boring psychologi-
cal examination." Laughter can make connections as well
as break them. We have all heard the aggressive notes of
those who laugh at others' misfortune. There are some
252

OTHER EXPRESSIONS OF CHARACTER 253

people who are absolutely unable to laugh because they
stand so far from the innate bond which connects human
beings, that their ability to give pleasure or to appear
happy, is absent. That there is another little group of peo-
ple who are utterly incapable of giving anyone else joy
since they are concerned only in embittering life in every
situation which they may enter. They walk around as
though they wished to extinguish every light. They do not
laugh at all, or only when forced to do so, or when they
wish to give the semblance of being a joy-giver. The mys-
tery of the emotions of sympathy and antipathy are thus
made understandable.

The opposite of the sympathetic type occurs in those
who are chronic kill-joys and marplots. They advertise
the world as a vale of sorrow and pain. Some individuals
go through life as though they were bent by the weight
of a great load. Every little difficulty is exploited, the
future appears black and depressing, and they do not miss
an occasion in which others are happy, to utter doleful
Cassandra-like prophecies. They are pessimistic in every
fibre, not only for themselves but for everyone else. If
someone is happy in their neighborhood they become rest-
less and attempt to find some gloomy aspect to the event.
This they do, not only with their words, but with their
disturbing actions, in this way preventing others from
living happily and enjoying their fellowship in humanity.

II. Thought Processes and Ways of Expression

The thought processes and manner of expression of some
individuals sometimes makes so plastic an impression that
we cannot help being aware of it. Some people think and
speak as though their mental horizon was circumscribed
by mottoes and proverbs. One can tell in advance what they

254 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

will say. They sound like cheap novels, and they speak in
catch-word phrases taken from the worst newspapers.
Their speech is full of slang or technical expressions. This
type of expression may well give ns a further understand-
ing of a human being. There are thoughts and words which
one does not, or may not, use. Their vulgar and coarse style
reechoes in every sentence and sometimes frightens even
the speaker himself. It bears witness to the speaker's lack
of empathy in judgment and critique of others, when he
answers every question with a catch-word phrase, or a slang
expression, and thinks and acts according to the cliches
of the tabloids and the movies. Needless to say there are
many people who cannot think in any other way, and in
this way, give evidence of their psychic retardation.

III. School-boy Immaturity

Frequently we meet people who give the impression
that they have stopped their development somewhere in
their school career and have never been able to grow be-
yond the ''prep-school" stage. At home, at work, and in
society, they act like school-boys, eagerly listening and
waiting for a chance to say something. They are always
anxious to answer any question which is asked at a gather-
ing, as though they wanted to be quite sure that everyone
knew that they also knew something about the subject,
and were waiting for a good school report to prove it.
The key to these people is the fact that they feel safety
only in definite fixed forms of life. They are anxious and
insecure whenever they find themselves in a situation in
which a school-boy behavior would be inadequate. This
trait appears at various intellectual levels. In less sympa-
thetic cases the individual appears dry, sober, and unap-
proachable, or attempts to play the role of the man who

OTHER EXPRESSIONS OF CHARACTER 255

knows every subject from its basic principles, who either
knows everything immediately, or seeks to catalogue it
according to predetermined rules and formulae.

IV. Pedants and Men of Principle

An interesting example of this scholastic type is to be
found in the people who attempt to pigeon-hole every
activity and every event according to some principle
which they have assumed valid for every situation. They
believe in this principle and they are not to be brought
to relinquish it, nor would they be comfortable if every-
thing could not be interpreted according to it. They are
the dry-as-dust pedants. We have the impression that they
feel themselves so insecure that they must squeeze all of
life and living into a few rules and formulas, lest they be-
come too frightened of it. Faced with a situation for which
they have no rule or formulae, they can only run away.
They are insulted and displeased if anyone plays a game in
which they are not versed. It goes without saying that one
can exercise a great deal of power by the use of this method.
Think for instance of the innumerable cases of unsocial
** conscientious objectors.*' We know that these overcon-
scientious individuals are moved by an unchecked vanity
and a boundless desire to rule.

Even if they are good workers, their dry-as-dust pe-
dantic attitude is obvious. They show no initiative, become
narrowly circumscribed in their interests, and are full of
their fads and whimsicalities. They may develop the habit
of always walking on the outside of a stair, for example,
or walk only on the cracks in the pavement. Others can-
not be brought to forsake an accustomed path at any cost.
All these types have not much sympathy for the real things
of life. In working out their principles they waste an enor-
mous amount of time, and sooner or later, get perfectly

256 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

out of tune both with themselves and with their environ-
ment. In the moment in which a new situation to which
they are not accustomed occurs, they fail entirely because
they are not prepared to solve it, because they believe that
without rules and magic formulae nothing can be done.
They will religiously avoid all change. It will be difficult
for them, for instance, to accustom themselves to spring-
time because they have so long adjusted themselves to
winter. The road into the open which appears with the
warmer season arouses the fear in them that they will have
to make more contacts with other humans, and they feel
badly as a result. These are the individuals who complain
that they feel worse in the Spring. Since they can adjust
themselves to new situations only with the greatest diffi-
culty, we will find them in positions which demand little
initiative. No employer would place them in any other
position as long as they have not changed themselves.
These are no hereditary traits, no unchangeable manifesta-
tions, but a mistaken attitude toward life, which has taken
possession of their souls with such power that it entirely
dominates their personality. In the end the individual can-
not free himself from his ingrown prejudices.

V. SUBMISSIVENESS

People who are permeated by a spirit of servility are
likewise not well adapted to positions which demand in-
itiative. They are comfortable when they are obeying
someone else's commands. The servile individual lives by
the rules and laws of others, and this type seeks out a
servile position almost compulsively. This servile attitude
is found in the most varied of life's relationships. One
can surmise its existence in the outer carriage, which
usually is a somewhat bent and cringing attitude. We see

OTHER EXPRESSIONS OF CHARACTER 257

them bending themselves in the presence of others, listen-
ing carefully to everyone's words, not so much to weigh
and consider them, but rather to carry out their com-
mands, and to echo and reaffirm their sentiments. They
consider it an honor to appear submissive, sometimes to
a perfectly unbelievable degree. There are people who
find a real pleasure in subjugating themselves. Far be
it from us to say that those who wish to dominate at all
times are an ideal type, yet we wish to show the darker
side of the life of those who find a true solution of their
life's problems in submission.

It may be said that there are many for whom submission
is a law of life. We do not refer to the servant classes. We
are speaking of the female sex. That woman must be
submissive, is an unwritten but deeply rooted law to which
a number of people subscribe as to a fixed dogma. They be-
lieve that women are here only for the purpose of being
submissive. These are ideas which have poisoned and de-
stroyed all human relationships, yet this superstition can-
not be weeded out. There are, even among women, many be-
lievers, who feel that it is an eternal law which they must
obey. But no one has ever seen a case where anyone has
gained anything by such a viewpoint. Sooner or later some-
one complains that if a woman had not been so submissive
everything would have turned out better.

Quite apart from the fact that the human soul will not
bear submission without revolt, a submissive woman
sooner or later becomes dependent, and socially sterile,
as the following case will show. This was a woman who
married a famous man for love. Both she and her husband
subscribed to the above-mentioned dogma. In time she
had become simply a machine for which there was nothing
but duty, service, and more service. Every independent
gesture vanished from her life. Her environment had be-

258 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

come accustomed to her submission, and did not object
especially, but no one profited by this silence.

This case did not degenerate into greater difficulties be-
cause it occurred among relatively cultured people. But let
us consider that in a large portion of mankind the submis-
sion of woman is her self -understood destiny, so that we
may realize how much cause for conflict lies in this view.
When a husband considers this submission as a matter
of course, he may take offense at any moment, because
actually such submission is impossible.

"Women are to be found who are so permeated with the
spirit of submission that they seek out the very men who
appear imperious or brutal. Sooner or later this unnatural
relationship degenerates into open war. One sometimes
has the impression that these women want to make the
submission of women appear ridiculous, and prove that
it is folly!

We have already learned a way out of these difficulties.
When a man and woman live together, they must live under
the conditions of a comradely division of labor in which
neither one nor the other is subjugated. If, for the time
being, this is but an ideal, at least it gives us a standard
to measure the cultural advance of an individual. The
question of submission not only plays a role in the relation-
ship of the sexes and burdens the masculine sex with
a thousand difficulties which it is incapable of ever solv-
ing, but it also plays an important role in the life of
nations.

The ancient civilization built up their whole economic
situation on the institution of slavery. Perhaps the great-
est number of people who are alive today originated in
slave families, and hundreds of years have passed during
which two classes of people lived in absolute strangeness

OTHER EXPRESSIONS OF CHARACTER 259

and opposition to each other. Today, indeed, among cer-
tain people the caste system is still retained, and the
principle of submission and the slavery of one to another
exists, and may at any time give rise to a definite type of
man. In the ancient days it was customary to believe that
work was the relatively degrading occupation of slaves
and that the master did not dirty himself with common
labors, that he was not only the commander, but that all
worthwhile traits were united in his character. The rul-
ing class consisted of the **best*' and the Greek word
**Aristos" signifies this. Aristocracy was domination by
the **best," but this *^best" was determined entirely by
power, not by the examination of virtues and qualities.
Examination and classification occurred only among the
slaves. The aristocrat was he who held the power.

In modern times our point of view has been influenced
by the previous existence of slavery and aristocracy.
The necessity of bringing human beings closer has robbed
these institutions of all meaning and significance. The
great thinker, Nietzsche, advocated rule by the best, and
subjugation of everyone else. It is difficult today to ex-
clude from our thought processes the division of human
beings into master and servant, and to consider every-
one as quite equal. Yet the mere possession of the new
point of view of the absolute equality of every human
being, is a step in advance, adapted to help us, and pre-
vent us from falling into considerable errors in our con-
duct. There are human beings who have become so servile
that they are happy only when they can be thankful to
someone else. They are forever excusing themselves,
seemingly for their very existence in the world. We must
not be deceived into believing that they do this gladly.
For the most part they feel themselves very unhappy.

260 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

VI. Imperiousness

Contrasted to the servile individual we have just de-
scribed, is the imperious individual who must have a
dominant role, and is anxious to play the chief part. He
is concerned with but one question in all life, ''How can
I be superior to everyone?" This role carries all manner
of disappointments with it. To a certain degree the
imperious role may be useful, if it is not accompanied
by too much hostile aggression and activity. Wherever a
director is necessary you will find one of these imperiously-
minded individuals. They seek out positions where com-
mands and organization are of advantage. In times of un-
rest, when a nation is in revolution, such natures come to
the surface, and it is quite understandable that just such
individuals should appear, for they have the proper ges-
tures, the proper attitudes and desires, and usually also
the necessary preparation to assume the leader's role.
They have been accustomed to commanding in their own
homes. No game satisfies them unless they can play the
king, the ruler, or the general. Among them are individu-
als who are incapable of the least performance, if some-
one else is dictating; they become excited and anxious
as soon as they must obey another's command. In quiet
times, one finds such individuals heading small groups,
whether in business or in society. They are always in the
foreground because they push themselves, and have much
to say. So long as they do not disturb the rules of the
game of life, we can have no objection to them, despite
the fact that we cannot subscribe to the over-evaluation
of such individuals which society holds today. They too
are but human beings who stand before an abyss, for they
cannot play well in the rank and file, they do not make
the best of team-mates. All their life they strain themselves

OTHER EXPRESSIONS OF CHARACTER 261

to the uttermost, never acquiring any ease until they have
proven their superiority in some way.

VII. Mood and Temperament

Psychology is mistaken if it believes that those human
beings whose attitude to life and its tasks are very de-
pendent upon their mood or temperament, owe this
quality to their heredity. Mood and temperament are
not inherited. They occur in overly ambitious, and there-
fore hypersensitive, natures whose dissatisfaction with life
expresses itself in various evasions. Their hypersensitivity
is like an outstretched feeler with which they test every new
situation before they make a final approach to it.

It would seem, however, that there are some people who
are always in a cheerful mood. They go to great lengths
to create a happy atmosphere as a necessary basis of their
life, laying stress upon its brighter side. We can find all
variations of level among them. There are some among
them who are childishly jolly, and have something very
touching in their childishness. They approach their tasks
not by evasion, but in a certain pla^ii'ul, childish way and
solve them as though they were games or puzzles. There
is perhaps no type which is more sympathetic and beauti-
ful in its attitude.

But among them there are some who carry their cheer-
fulness too far, who approach situations which are rela-
tively serious, in the same childish manner. Sometimes
this is so inappropriate to the earnestness of life, that we
get bad impressions. One feels uncertain, seeing them at
work, getting an impression that they are really irre-
sponsible, because they wish to overcome difficulties too
easily. As a result, they are kept from the really difficult
tasks, which they usually avoid of their own accord. Yet

262 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

we cannot take leave of this type without paying a certain
tribute to it. This type is always pleasant to work with.
It forms a pleasant contrast to those other types which
go about with gloomy faces. Cheerful people can be won
over much more easily than pessimists, who proceed in a
sad and discontented way, finding only the dark side of
every situation which they meet.

VIII. Hard Luck

It is a psychological truism that whoever gets into diffi-
culties with the absolute truth and logic of communal
life, will sooner or later feel the repercussion somewhere
in the course of his existence. As a rule the individuals
who make these profound mistakes do not learn from ex-
perience, but consider their misfortune as an unjustified
personal mishap which has fallen upon them. It takes
them their whole life to demonstrate what hard luck they
have had, and prove that they have never succeeded in
anything, because everything that they have laid their
hands upon has ended in failure. One even finds the tend-
ency on the part of these unfortunates to be proud of
their ill-luck, as though some supernatural power had
caused it. Examine this point of view more closely and
you will find that vanity is again playing its evil game
here. They are the individuals who act as though some
sinister deity spent its time persecuting them. In a thunder
storm they believe that the lightning will single them out.
They are afraid that burglars will enter their particular
house. If any misfortune is to occur they are certain that
they are the ones it will touch.

Only a man who considers himself the center of all
events can exaggerate like this. It seems very modest
to be constantly pursued by misfortune, but actually a

OTHER EXPRESSIONS OF CHARACTER 263

stubborn vanity is at work when such individuals feel
that all hostile powers are concerned with reeking ven-
geance upon them. They are the individuals who embit-
tered their childhood by believing themselves the prey of
robbers, murderers, and other unpleasant gentry, such as
ghosts and spirits, as though all these individuals and
apparitions had nothing more to do than persecute them.
It is to be expected that their attitude will be expressed
in their external carriage. They walk as though under
pressure, bent over so that no one can mistake the heavy
load under which they move. They remind us of those
Karyatids who supported the Greek temples, and spent
their whole lives holding up porticos. They take every-
thing more than seriously, and judge everything pessi-
mistically. It is not hard to understand why things
always go wrong for them. They are persecuted by ill
luck because they not only embitter their own lives but
also those of others. Vanity is at the root of their mis-
fortune. Being unlucky is one way of being important!

IX. Religiosity

Some of these chronically misunderstood people beat a
retreat into religion, where they proceed to do just what
they have done before. They complain and commiserate with
themselves, and shift their pains upon the shoulders of a
complacent God. Their whole activity concerns itself
solely with their own person. In this process they believe
that God, this extraordinarily honored and worshipped
Being, is concerned entirely with serving them, and is
responsible for their every action. In their opinion He
may be brought into even closer connection by artificial
means, as by some particularly zealous prayer, or other
religious rites. In short, the dear God knows nothing else

264i UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

and has nothing else to do, but to occupy Himself with
their troubles, and pay a great deal of attention to them.
There is so much heresy in this type of religious worship
that if the old days of Inquisition were to return, these
very religious fanatics would probably be the first to be
burned. They approach their God just as they approach
their fellowmen, complainingly, whining, yet never lifting
a hand to help themselves or better their circumstances.
Cooperation, they feel, is an obligation only for others.
The history of an eighteen-year-old girl demonstrates
the extent to which this vain egoism may go. She was a
very good and industrious, though very ambitious child.
Her ambition expressed itself in her religion, in which
she performed every rite with the utmost piety. One day
she began to reproach herself for having been too unortho-
dox in her belief, and having broken the commandments,
and for having held sinful thoughts from time to time.
The result was that she spent the whole day violently
accusing herself, with such vehemence that everyone felt
that she had become insane. She spent the day kneeling
in a corner, bitterly reproaching herself; yet no one else
could reproach her for a single thing. One day a priest
tried to remove the burden of her sin by explaining to
her that she had really never sinned, and that her salvation
was certain. The next day this young girl planted her-
self before him on the street, and screamed at him that
he was unworthy of entering a church because he had
taken such a burden of sin upon his shoulders. We need
not discuss this case further, but it illustrates how am-
bition breaks into religious problems, and how vanity
makes its bearer a judge over virtue, vice, purity, cor-
ruption, good, and evil.

CHAPTER V

AFITECTS AND EMOTIONS

Affects and emotions are accentuations of what we have
previously designated as character traits. Emotions ex-
press themselves as a sudden discharge (under the pres-
sure of some conscious or unconscious necessity) and like
character traits, they have a definite goal and direction.
We might call them psychic movements which possess a
definite time boundary. The affects are not mysterious
phenomena which defy interpretation ; they occur wherever
they are appropriate to the given style of life and the
predetermined behavior pattern of the individual. Their
purpose is to modify the situation of the individual in
whom they occur, to his benefit. They are the accentuated,
more vehement, movements which occur in an individual
who has foregone other mechanisms for achieving his pur-
pose, or has lost faith in any other possibilities of attain-
ing his goal.

We are dealing again with the individual who, bur-
dened by a feeling of inferiority and inadequacy which
forces him to gather all his powers together and exert
greater efforts, makes more drastic movements than
would otherwise be necessary. By dint of these more
strenuous efforts he believes it possible to bring his person
into the limelight, and prove himself victorious. Just as
we cannot have anger without an enemy, we cannot con-
ceive of the emotion of anger without considering also
that its purpose is a victory over this enemy. In our cul-

265

266 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

ture it is still possible to achieve one's ends by means of
these accentuated movements. We should have fewer
outbursts of temper if there were no possibility of attain-
ing recognition by this method.

Individuals who do not have sufficient confidence in
their ability to achieve their goal, do not give up their
purpose because of their feeling of insecurity, but attempt
to approach it by dint of greater efforts, and with the
aid of accessory affects and emotions. It is a method
by which an individual, stung by a sense of his inferiority,
gathers his powers together and attempts to win a desired
objective in the manner of some brutal uncivilized savage.

Since the affects and emotions are closely bound up
with the very essence of personality, they are not solitary
characteristics of solitary individuals, but are to be found
more or less regularly among all people. Every individual
is capable of showing some particular emotion if he is
brought into the proper situation. We might call this the
faculty for emotion.^ The emotions are so essentially a
part of human life that we are all capable of experiencing
them. So soon as we have gained a fairly deep knowledge
of a human being we may well be able to imagine his usual
affects and emotions, without ever having actually come
into contact with them. It is quite natural that so deeply
rooted a phenomenon as an affect or an emotion, shows
its effect upon the body, since body and soul are so inti-
mately alloyed. The physical phenomena which accompany
the presence of affects and emotions are indicated by
various changes in the blood vessels and in the respiratory

1 Translator's note : In the original, the word Affektbereitschaft
is used. There is no adequate English translation for this word,
which denotes a lability of the soul; that is to say, that the soul
possesses the possibility of effecting new emotional constellations
appropriate to any given new situation.

AFFECTS AND EMOTIONS 267

apparatus, as in the appearance of blushing, pallor, rapid
pulse, and variations of the respiratory rate.

I. Disjunctive Affects

A. ANGER

Anger is an affect which is the veritable epitome of
the striving for power and domination. This emotion be-
trays very clearly that its purpose is the rapid and force-
ful destruction of every obstacle in the way of its angry
bearer. Previous researches have taught us that an angry
individual is one who is striving for superiority by the
strenuous application of all his powers. The striving for
recognition occasionally degenerates into a veritable power-
intoxication. Where this occurs we are prepared to find
individuals who respond to the least stimulus which might
detract from their sense of power, with paroxysms of
anger. They believe (perhaps as a result of previous ex-
periences) that they can most easily have their own way,
and conquer their opponents, by this mechanism. This
method does not stand upon a very high intellectual level,
yet it works in a majority of cases. It is not difficult for
most people to remember how they have rewon their
prestige through an occasional outburst of fury.

There are occasions when anger is largely justified, but
we are not considering these cases here. When we speak
of anger we speak of individuals in whom this affect is
ever present, and is a habitual, well-marked response.
Some people actually make a system out of their anger
and are notable because they have no other way to ap-
proach a problem. They are usually haughty, highly sensi-
tive people who cannot brook a superior or an equal, who
must themselves be superior to be happy. Consequently
their eyes are sharpened, and they are continually on

268 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

guard lest someone should approach them too closely, or
does not value them highly enough. Distrust is a character
trait which is most frequently allied with their sensi-
tivity. They find it impossible to trust a fellow human
being.

Other character traits which are closely related will
be found concomitant with their anger, their sensitivity,
and their mistrust. In the difficult cases it is quite pos-
sible to conceive such an exceptionally ambitious individual
frightened from every serious task, and thus incapable of
ever adjusting himself to society. Should he be denied any-
thing, he knows but one method of response. He announces
his protest in a manner which is usually very painful to his
environment. He may for instance shatter a mirror, or
destroy a costly vase. One cannot well believe him if he
attempts, afterwards, to excuse himself by saying that he
did not know what he was doing. The desire to injure his
environment is too plainly evident, for he will always de-
stroy something valuable, and never confine his rage to
worthless objects. A plan must have been present in his
action.

Albeit in smaller circles this method achieves a certain
success, so soon as the circle becomes larger it loses its
effectiveness. These habitually angry people therefore are
soon to be found in conflict with the world all along the
line.

The external attitude which accompanies the affect of
anger is so common that we have but to mention fury
to imagine the picture of an irascible man. The hostile
attitude towards the world is clearly evident. The affect
of anger signifies an almost complete negation of the
social feeling. The striving for power is so bitterly ex-
pressed that the death of an opponent becomes easily
conceivable. We can practice our knowledge of human na-

AFFECTS AND EMOTIONS 269

ture by solving the various emotions and affects which we
observe, since affects and emotions are the clearest indica-
tions of character. We must designate all irascible, angry,
acrimonious individuals as enemies of society, and enemies
of life. We must again call attention to the fact that their
striving for power is built upon the foundations of their
feeling of inferiority. No human being who realizes his
own power is under the necessity of showing these aggres-
sive, violent movements and gestures. This fact must never
be overlooked. In paroxysms of rage, the whole gamut of
inferiority and superiority appears with utter clarity. It
is a cheap trick whereby the personal evaluation is raised
at the cost of another's misfortune.

Alcohol is one of the most important factors which facili-
tate the appearance of rage and anger. Very small quanti-
ties of alcohol are often sufficient to produce this effect.
It is well known that the action of alcohol deadens or
removes the civilized inhibitions. An intoxicated person acts
as if he had never been civilized. In this way he loses con-
trol of himself, and consideration for others. When he is
not intoxicated he may be able to hide his hostility to man-
kind and inhibit his inimical tendencies at the cost of great
efforts. Once he is intoxicated his true character is ex-
pressed. It is by no means a fortuitous circumstance that
those individuals who are out of harmony with life are
the first to take to alcohol. They find in the drug a certain
consolation and forgetfulness, as well as an excuse for
the fact that they have not attained what they desire.

Temper tantrums are much more frequent among chil-
dren than among adults. Sometimes an insignificant event
is sufficient to throw a child into temper tantrums. This
arises from the fact that children, as a result of their
greater feeling of inferiority, show their striving for
power in a more transparent manner. An angry child

270 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

is striving for recognition. Every obstacle he meets appears
exceptionally difficult, if not insurmountable.

The results of anger, when they go beyond the usual
context of swearing and rage, may actually injure the
person who is angry. We may well write a note in this
connection, on the nature of suicide. In suicide we see the
attempt to injure relatives or friends, and revenge oneself
for some defeat which has been suffered.

B. SADNESS

The affect of sadness occurs when one cannot console
himself for a loss or deprivation. Sadness, along with the
other affects, is a compensation for a feeling of displeas-
ure or weakness, and amounts to an attempt to secure a
better situation. In this respect its value is identical with
that of a temper paroxysm. The difference is that it occurs
as a result of other stimuli, is marked by a different atti-
tude, and utilizes a different method. The striving for su-
periority is present, just as in all other affects, whereas an
irate individual seeks to elevate his self -evaluation and de-
grade his opponent, and his anger is directed against an op-
ponent. Sadness amounts to an actual shrinkage of the
psychic front, which is a prerequisite to the subsequent ex-
pansion in which the sad individual achieves his personal
elevation and satisfaction. But this satisfaction exists as a
kind of discharge, a movement which is directed against
the environment, although in a different manner than in
the case of anger. The sad person complains and with his
complaint sets himself into opposition to his fellows. Nat-
ural as sorrow is in the nature of man, its exaggeration is
a hostile gesture against society.

The elevation of the sorrower is attained consequent to
the attitude of his environment. We all know how sorrow-

AFFECTS AND EMOTIONS 271

ing individuals find their position made easier by the
fact that others place themselves in their service, sympa-
thize with them, support them, encourage them, or contrib-
ute tangibly to their welfare. If the psychic discharge
succeeds as a result of tears and loud sorrow, it is evident
that the sorrower achieves his elevation over his environ-
ment by making himself a judge and critic, or a plaintiff,
against the existing order of things. The more the plaintiff
demands of his environment because of his sorrow, the
more transparent his claims become. Sadness becomes an
irrefutable argument which places a binding duty upon the
sorrower's neighbors.

This affect clearly indicates the striving from weakness
to superiority, and the attempt to retain one's position
and evade a feeling of powerlessness and inferiority.

C. THE MISUSE OF EiMOTION

No one understood the meaning and value of the affects
and emotions until it was discovered that they were val-
uable instruments to overcome the feeling of inferiority,
and to elevate the personality and obtain its recognition.
The faculty of showing emotion has a wide application
in the psychic life. Once a child has learned that he can
tyrannize his environment by fury, or sadness, or weeping,
arising out of a feeling of neglect, he will test this method
of obtaining domination over his environment again and
again. In this way he falls easily into a behavior pattern
which allows him to react to insignificant stimuli with
his typical emotional response. He uses his emotions when-
ever they suit his needs. Preoccupation with emotion is a
bad habit which occasionally becomes pathological. When
this has occurred in childhood we find an adult who is
constantly misusing his emotions. We have the picture

272 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

of an individual who uses anger, sorrow, and all other
affects in a playful way, as though they were puppets. This
valueless and often unpleasant characteristic serves to
rob emotions of their true value. Play-acting with emotions
becomes a habitual response whenever such an individual
is denied anything or whenever the dominance of his per-
sonality is threatened. Sorrow may be expressed with such
violent cries that it becomes unpleasant because it too
closely resembles a raucous personal advertisement. We
have seen people who give the impression that they are
competing with themselves in the degree of sorrow they
could show.

The same misuse can be made of the physical accompani-
ments of emotion. It is well known that there are people
who allow their anger to react so strongly upon their
digestive systems that they vomit when they are infuri-
ated. This mechanism expresses their hostility all the more
transparently. The emotion of sadness is similarily associ-
ated with refusal to eat so that the sorrowful indi\ddual
actually loses weight and veritably illustrates **the picture
of sadness."

These types of misuse cannot be a matter of indifference
with us, because they touch the other fellow's social feeling.
The moment a neighbor expresses his friendly feeling for
the sufferer the violent affects we have described cease.
There are, however individuals who crave the expression of
another's friendliness to such an extent that they wish
never to cease with their sorrow because only in this state
do they feel some tangible elevation of their personality
sense as a result of the many indications of the friendship
and sympathy of their neighbors.

Even though our sympathies are associated with them in
various degrees, anger and sorrow are disjunctive emotions.
They do not serve to really bring men closer. Actually

AFFECTS AND EMOTIONS 273

they separate by injuring the social feeling. Sorrow, it is
true, eventually effects a union, but this union does not
occur normally, because hoth parties do not contribute. It
effects a distortion of the social feeling in which, sooner
or later, the other fellow has to contribute the greater
share!

D. DISGUST

The affect of disgust is marked by a disjunctive ele-
ment, even though this is not so well marked as in the
other affects. Physically, disgust occurs when the stomach
walls are stimulated in a certain fashion. There are, how-
ever, also tendencies and attempts to *' vomit'* matter out
of the psychic life. It is here that the disjunctive factor
of the affect becomes visible. The subsequent events rein-
force us in our opinion. Disgust is a gesture of aversion.
The grimaces accompanying it signify a contempt for the
environment, and the solution of a problem, with a gesture
of discard. This affect can easily be misused by being made
an excuse for removing oneself from an unpleasant situa-
tion. It is easy to simulate nausea, and once it is present
one must, of necessity, escape from the particular social
gathering in which one finds oneself. No other affect can
be produced artificially so easily as disgust. By means of
a special training, anyone can develop the ability of easily
producing nausea; in this way a harmless affect becomes
a powerful weapon against society, or an unfailing excuse
for withdrawing from it.

B. FEAR AND ANXIETY

Anxiety is one of the most significant phenomena in the
life of man. This affect becomes complicated by the fact

274 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

that it is not only a disjunctive emotion, but like sorrow, it
is capable of effecting a one-sided bond for one 's fellows. A
child escapes one situation by his fear, but he runs to the
protection of someone else. The mechanism of anxiety does
not directly demonstrate any superiority — indeed it seems
to illustrate a defeat. In anxiety one seeks to make oneself
as smaU as possible, but it is at this point that the con-
junctive side of this affect, which carries with it at the
same time a thirst for superiority, becomes evident. The
anxious individuals flee into the protection of another sit-
uation, and attempt to fortify themselves in this way until
they feel themselves capable of meeting and triumphing
over the danger to which they feel exposed.

In this affect we are dealing with a phenomenon which
is organically very deeply rooted. It is a reflection of the
primitive fear which seizes all living things. Mankind
is especially subject to this fear because of his weakness
and insecurity in nature. So inadequate is our knowledge
of the difficulties of life that a child can never of himself
reconcile himself with it. Others must contribute whatever
he lacks. The child senses these difficulties at the moment
in which he enters life, and the conditions of living begin
to influence him. There is always a danger that he will
fail, in striving to compensate for his insecurity, and
develop a pessimistic philosophy as a result. His dominant
character trait becomes, therefore, a certain thirst for the
help and consideration of his environment. The farther
he stands from the solution of his life 's problems, the more
developed is his cautiousness. Should such children ever be
forced to make an advance, they carry the gestures and
plans of their retreat with them. They are always prepared
for retreat, and naturally their most common and obvious
character trait is the affect of anxiety.

We see the beginnings of opposition in the manner in

AFFECTS AND EMOTIONS 275

which this affect is expressed, as in mimicry, but this op-
position does not proceed aggressively nor in a straight
line. A particularly clear insight into the workings of the
soul is sometimes vouchsafed us when pathological degen-
erations of this affect occur. In these cases we clearly sense
how the anxious individual reaches out for a helping hand,
and seeks to draw another toward him, and chain him to
his side.

Further study of this phenomenon leads us to considera-
tions which we have already discussed under the character
trait of anxiety. In this case we are dealing with individ-
uals who demand support from someone, who need someone
paying attention to them at all times. As a matter of fact
it amounts to nothing more than the institution of a master-
slave relationship, as if someone else had to be present to
aid and support the anxious one. Investigate this further
and one finds many people who go through life demanding
particular recognitions. They have so far lost their inde-
pendence (as a result of their insufficient and incorrect
contact with life) that they demand exceptional privileges,
with extraordinary violence. No matter how much they
seek out the company of others, they have little social feel-
ing. But let them show anxiety and fright, and they can
create their privileged position again. Anxiety helps them
evade the demands of life, and enslave all those about
them. Finally it worms itself into every relationship in
their daily lives, and becomes their most important instru-
ment to effect their domination.

II. The Conjunctive Affects

A. JOY

Joy is an affect which most clearly bridges the distance
from man to man. Joy does not brook isolation. Expressions

276 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

of happiness as evinced in the search for a companion, in
the embrace, and the like, arise in human beings who want
to play together, to join together, or enjoy something to-
gether. The attitude is a conjunctive one. It is, so to speak,
the reaching out of a hand to a fellow-man. It is similar to
the radiation of warmth from one person to another. All
the elements of conjunction are present in this affect. To
be sure, we are again dealing with human beings who are
attempting to overcome a feeling of dissatisfaction, or of
loneliness, so that they may attain a measure of superiority,
along our frequently demonstrated line from below to above.
Happiness, as a matter of fact, is probably the best ex-
pression for the conquest of difficulties. Laughter, with its
liberating energy, its freedom-giving powers, goes hand in
hand with happiness, and represents, so to speak, the key-
stone of this affect. It reaches out beyond the personality
and entwines itself in the sympathies of others.

Even this laughter and this happiness may be misused for
personal ends. Thus a patient who was afraid to allow the
feeling of insignificance to arise in him., showed signs of
joy at the report of a deadly earthquake. When he was sad
he felt powerless. He therefore fled from sadness and at-
tempted to approach the opposite affect, joy. Another mis-
use of happiness is the expression of joy at the pain of
others. A joy which arises at the wrong time or in the
wrong place, which denies the social feeling and destroys it,
is nothing but a disjunctive affect, an instrument of con-
quest.

B. SYMPATHY

Sympathy is the purest expression of the social feeling.
Whenever we find sympathy in a human being we can in
general be sure that his social feeling is mature, because

AFFECTS AND EMOTIONS 277

this affect allows us to judge how far a human being is able
to identify himself with his fellow men.

Perhaps more wide-spread than this affect itself, is its
conventional misuse. This consists in posing as an indi-
vidual who has a great deal of social feeling; the misuse
inheres in its exaggeration. Thus there are individuals who
crowd to the scene of a disaster in order to be mentioned
in the newspapers, and achieve a cheap fame without actu-
ally doing anything to help the sufferers. Others seem to
have a lust for tracking down another's misfortune. Profes-
sional sympathizers and alms-givers are not to be di-
vorced from their activity for they are actually creating
a feeling of their own superiority over the miserable and
poverty-stricken victims whom they are alleged to be help-
ing. That great knower of human beings, La Rochefou-
cauld, has said: *'We are always prepared to find a
measure of satisfaction in the misfortune of our friends."

A mistaken attempt has been made to connect our en-
joyment of tragic dramas, to this phenomena. It has been
said that the onlooker feels holier than the characters
upon the stage. This does not fit the majority of people,
for our interest in a tragedy arises for the most part in
the desire for self-knowledge and self -instruction. "We do
not lose sight of the fact that it is only a play, and we
make use of the action to give us an added impetus in our
preparations for life.

C. MODESTY

Modesty is an affect which is conjunctive and dis-
junctive at one and the same time. This aft'ect, too, is part
of the structure of our social feeling, and as such is not
to be separated from our psychic life. Human society
were impossible without this affect. It occurs wherever

278 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

it would seem that the value of one's personality was about
to sink, or where one's conscious self -evaluation might be
lost. This affect is strongly transferred to the body, the
transference consisting in the expansion of the peripheral
capillaries. A congestion in the skin capillaries, recognized
as a blush, occurs. This occurs usually in the face, but
there are some people who blush all over their body.

The external attitude is one of withdrawal. It is a
gesture of isolation bound up with a slight depression
which amounts to a readiness to desert from a threaten-
ing situation. Downcast eyes and coyness are movements
of flight, showing definitely that modesty is a disjunctive
affect.

Like other affects modesty may be misused. Some people
blush so easily that all their relationships to their fellows
are poisoned by this disjunctive trait. Its value as a mecha-
nism of isolation becomes obvious when it is thus misused.

APPENDIX

GBISTERAL REMARKS ON EDUCATION

At this point let us add a few remarks on a theme whicli
we have occasionally indicated in our previous consider-
ations. It is the question of the influence of education in
the home, in the school, and in life, on the growth of the
soul.

There is no doubt that contemporary education in the
family aids and abets the striving for power and the
development of vanity, to an extraordinary degree. Every-
one can learn a lesson from his own experiences in this
connection. To be sure, the family has great advantages
and it is hard to imagine an institution better adapted to
the care of children than a family in which they are
properly educated. Especially in the matter of sickness
does the family prove itself the best adapted institution for
the maintenance of humanity. If parents were also good
educators, with the necessary insight and the ability to
recognize mistaken development in their children when it
began, and if, further, they were capable of combating
these errors by proper education — we should be happy to
admit that no institution were better adapted for the pro-
tection of valid human beings.

Unfortunately, however, parents are neither good psy-
chologists nor good teachers. Various degrees of a patho-
logical family egoism seem to play the chief role in the
home education of today. This egoism demands that the
children of one's own family should be especially culti-
279

280 UNDERSTANDING HTOIAN NATURE

vated, and should be looked up to as being extraordinarily
worthwhile, even at the cost of other children. Education
in the home therefore commits the gravest of psychological
errors in inoculating children with the false idea that they
must be superior to everyone else and consider themselves
better than all other human beings. Any organization of
the family which is based upon the idea of the leadership
of the father, cannot be separated from this thought.

And now the evil begins. This fatherly authority is based
only to a very slight degree upon the feeling of human
community and society. It seduces an individual into an
open, or secret, resistance to the social feeling, only too
soon. Revolt is never attempted openly. The greatest dis-
advantage of authoritative education lies in the fact that
it gives the child an ideal of power, and shows him the
pleasures which are connected with the possession of power.
Every child grows greedy for domination, becomes ambi-
tious for power, and inordinately vain. Now every child
desires to reach the pinnacles, every child wants to be re-
spected, and sooner or later demands the same obedience
and submission of others he has seen placed at the feet of
the most powerful individual in his environment. A bel-
ligerent attitude to his parents and the rest of the world
is the inevitable result of his false assumptions.

Under the prevailing educational influences in the home,
it is practically impossible for a child to lose sight of the
goal of superiority. One sees it in small children who like
to play *'the big man,'' as we may see it in the later life
of individuals whose thoughts or unconscious remembrances
of their childhood life show clearly that they treat the
whole world as though it were still their family. Should
their attitude be thwarted, their tendency is to withdraw
from a world which has become hateful to them.

It is true the family is adapted also to develop the social

APPENDIX 281

feeling. But if we remember the influence of the striving
for power, and the presence of authority in the family,
we find that this social feeling can be developed only to
a certain degree. The first tendencies toward love and
tenderness are concerned with the relationship to the
mother. Perhaps this is the most important experience
which a child can have, for in this experience he re-
alizes the existence of another entirely trustworthy per-
son. He learns the difference between *'I" and **You."
Nietzsche has said that ** everyone fashions the picture of
his beloved one out of his relationships with his mother.'*
Pestalozzi also has shown how a mother is the ideal which
determines a child's future relationships to the world. The
relationship to the mother, indeed, determines all subse-
quent activities.

It is the function of the mother to develop the social
feeling in the child. Eccentric personalities which we no-
tice among children arise out of their relationship to their
mothers, and the direction which this development takes is
an index of the mother-child relationship. Wherever the
mother-child relationship is warped we usually find certain
social defects in the children. Two types of error are most
common. The first error arises out of the fact that a mother
does not fulfil her function toward her child, and he de-
velops no social feeling. This defect is very significant and
a score of unpleasant consequences result from it. The
child grows up like a stranger in an enemy country. If
one desires to help such a child, there is no other way to
do it than to re-enact the role of his mother, which the
child has somehow missed in the course of his development.
This is the only way, so to speak, to make a fellow-man out
of him. The second error is probably made more fre-
quently, and consists in this: the mother assumes her
function, but exercises it in such an exaggerated, emphatic

282 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

manner that the transference and projection of the social
feeling beyond the mother is impossible. This mother allows
the feeling which has developed in the child to discharge
itself entirely upon her person ; that is to say, such a child
is interested only in his mother, and excludes the rest of
the world. It goes without saying that such a child lacks
the basis for becoming an adequate social being.

There are many other weighty moments beside the re-
lation towards the mother which play an important role in
education. A happy nursery enables a child to find his
way into the world with a certain facility. If one bears in
mind what difficulties most children have to fight against,
how few of them can reconcile themselves with the world
in the first years of their life, or find it a pleasant sojourn,
one can understand how extraordinarily significant the
first childhood impressions are to a child. These are the
sign posts which point out the direction in which he must
proceed in the world. If we add to this the fact that a
number of children come into the world as sickly beings and
experience only pain and sorrow, that most children do
not have a nursery which is calculated to make them happy,
we can understand clearly why most children do not grow
up as friends of life and society, and are not actuated by
that social feeling which might bloom and develop in a true
human community. In addition we must throw the excep-
tionally important influence of errors in education, into
the scales. A stern authoritative education is quite capable
of annihilating any joy in life that a child may have, just
as an education which removes every obstacle from a child's
way, and surrounds him with a hot-house atmosphere,
** fixes '* him, so to speak, when he is adult, so that he is in-
capable of living in any climate more blustering than the
tropical warmth of his family.

We see therefore that education in the family, in our soci-

APPENDIX 288

ety and civilization, is not well adapted to develop those val-
uable comradely fellows of human society which we might
desire. It is too much given to fostering vain ambitions, and
the desire for personal aggrandisement, in individuals.

"What possibility still exists which could compensate for
the errors in the development of a child, and effect an
amelioration of his condition ? The answer is the school. But
an exact examination shows that the school, in its con-
temporary form, is also not adapted to this task. There is
hardly a teacher today who is willing to admit that he
can recognize the human errors in a child and obviate them
under the present school conditions. He is quite unprepared
for this task. It is his business to retail a certain curric-
ulum to his children without daring to concern himself
w^ith the human material with which he works. The fact
that there are far too many children in each class further
militates against the accomplishment of his task.

Is there no other institution capable of obviating the de-
fects of family education ? Someone might suggest that life
is this institution. But life, too, has its specific limitations.
Life itself is not adapted to changing a human being, al-
though it sometimes seems to do so. The vanity and am-
bition of human beings will not allow it. No matter how
many mistakes a man has made, he will either blame the
rest of mankind, or feel that his situation is irrevocable.
"We very seldom find anyone who has bumped his head
against life, who has committed errors, stopping to recon-
sider them. Our analyses of the misuse of experience, in a
previous chapter, proves the point.

Life itself cannot produce any essential change. This is
psychologically comprehensible because life is dealing with
the finished products of mankind, human beings, who al-
ready have their sharply-focussed viewpoints, all striving
for power. Quite to the contrary, life is the worst teacher of

284 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

all. It has no consideration, it does not warn us, it does not
teach us ; it simply rejects us, and lets us perish.

We can draw but one conclusion: the only institution
capable of effecting a change is the school! The school
might be capable of this function, if it were not misused.
Up to the present time it has always been the case that the
individual who got a school into his hands fashioned it
into an instrument for his own vain and ambitious plans.
We hear clamorings today that the old authority should
be re-established in the schools. Did the old authority ever
achieve any good results ? How can an authority which has
always been found harmful suddenly become valuable?
Why should authority in school be good when we have
seen that authority in the home, where the situation is
really better, effects only one thing, universal rebellion
against it ? Any authority whose recognition does not occur
in and of itself, but must be forced upon us, is no real
authority. Too many children come to school with the feel-
ing that the teacher is simply an employee of the state. To
force an authority upon a child without incurring unfor-
tunate consequences for his psychic development, is impos-
sible. Authority must not rest upon force, — ^it must be
based solely on the social feeling. The school is a situation
which every child experiences in the course of his psychic
development. It must, therefore, be adequate to the de-
mands of a healthy psychic growth. We can speak of a good
school only when that school is in harmony with the neces-
sities for a healthy psychic development. Only such a school
shall we ever be able to consider a school for social life.

CONCLUSION

We have attempted to show in this book that the soul
arises from a hereditary substance which functions both

APPENDIX 285

physically and psychically. Its development is entirely con-
ditioned by social influences. On the one hand the demands
of the organism must find fulfillment, and on the other the
demands of human society must be satisfied. In this context
does the soul develop, and by these conditions is its growth
indicated.

We have investigated this development further, have
discussed the capabilities and faculties of perception, recol-
lection, emotion, and thinking, and finally, we have con-
sidered traits of character and affects. We have shown that
all these phenomena are connected by indivisible bonds;
that on the one hand they are subject to the rule of com-
munal life, and on the other they are influenced by indi-
vidual striving for power and superiority, so that they
express themselves in a specific, individual, and unique pat-
tern. We have shown how the goal of superiority of the
individual, modified by his social feeling, according to the
degree of its development in any concrete case, gives
rise to specific character traits. Such traits are in no way
hereditary, but are developed in such a way that they fit
into the mosaic pattern which arises from the origin and
source of the psychic development, and lead in a unit
direction to the goal which is constantly present, more or
less consciously, for everyone.

A number of these character traits and affects which
are valuable indicators for the understanding of a human
being, have been discussed at some length, whereas others
have been neglected. We have shown that a definite degree
of ambition and vanity appears in every human being
according to the individual striving for power. In this ex-
pression we can clearly discover his striving for power and
its manner of activity. We have also shown how the ex-
aggerated development of ambition and vanity prevent the
orderly development of the individual. The development of

286 UNDERSTANDING HUMAN NATURE

the social feeling is thus either stunted or made quite im-
possible. Because of the disturbing influence of these two
traits, the evolution of the social feeling is not only in-
hibited but the power-hungry individual is led to his own
destruction.

This law of psychic development seems to us to be ir-
refutable. It is the most important indicator to any human
being who wishes to build up his destiny consciously and
openly, rather than to allow himself to be the victim of
dark and mysterious tendencies. These researches are ex-
periments in the science of human nature, a science which
cannot otherwise be taught or cultivated. The understand-
ing of human nature seems to us indispensable to every
man, and the study of its science, the most important ac-
tivity of the human mind.

4